Tearjerker: Brokeback Mountain

A free, participatory screening of Ang Lee's classic tale of love, repression, money & mortality. Handkerchiefs provided, everyone welcome.

When Brokeback Mountain was released in 2005, it immediately became a cultural touchstone. This film definitively summed up the pre-Stonewall era, quickly embedding itself within queer cultural memory. Artist Natalie Woodlock has been organizing screenings of Ang Lee’s film, handing out handkerchiefs at the beginning of the movie, and afterwards asking viewers to write down the scenes that make them cry. She embroiders the names of each person who sheds tears on their handkerchief, and illustrates each scene that brings viewers to tears for an artists’ book she is making. This project is a work of sentimental collaboration, highlighting the connective possibility and collective power of popular film. By illustrating the scenes from Brokeback Mountain that bring viewers to tears, Woodlock hopes to memorialize the circle of sympathy present at each screening in the pages of each book. Handkerchiefs provided.