Chasing Amy + Chasing Chasing Amy

Sometimes double bills are hard to programme. Which two films make that perfect match? On the other hand, sometimes a documentary comes along that explicitly recontextualises a 90s cult comedy, and it’s almost too easy.

Chasing Amy is Kevin Smith’s third foray into what became the Jay and Silent Bob universe. We meet Holden (played by Ben Affleck with a questionable goatee) who develops a crush on fellow artist and lesbian Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams). Full of Smith’s trademark low-budget comedy, and cameos from almost every actor from his other films, Chasing Amy premiered at Sundance in 1997 to critical acclaim.

Revisiting the film almost 30 years later, Chasing Chasing Amy is filmmaker Sav Rodgers’s reflection on how watching the film as a child left him irrevocably changed. An unexpected source of queer kinship, Rodgers re-examines the film and its role in Queer film history. As production of the documentary continues, Rodger’s idea of what the film means to him changes, and its legacy might not be exactly what he thought.