Canada / Greece 2022, 78 min, English, Hebrew subtitles

Chelly Wilson was the least stereotypical Jewish New Yorker grandma you could imagine: a sharp, savvy, independent businesswoman who married men but loved and lived with women, and the founder of a successful porn cinema empire to boot. The tough-as-nails matriarch ruled over her family and its diverse business from her bunker-like apartment above the cinema, surrounded by piles of cash and often chain-smoking or playing poker. Wilson, who fled Greece before WWII, became a well-known figure in ’60s and ’70s New York, attracting many local bigwigs to her doorstep. Her tumultuous life story—full of family secrets, survival, and shattered conventions—is told in this film by her descendants and friends, as well as in her own voice, and accompanied by animations that vividly capture her unparalleled charisma.

Previous Festivals: DOCNYC, Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival

Official Website

A native New Yorker, Valerie Kontakos has been living between Athens and New York since 2003. After graduating from New York University, she worked as a sound editor. In 1989 she directed her first feature documentary A Quality of Light.

Production: Valerie Kontakos, Despina Pavlaki, Ed Barreveld
Production Company: Exile Films, Storyline
Editing: Rob Ruzic
Cinematography: Patrick McGowan, Martina Radwan
Music: Ken Myhr

Source: Cinephil