PINK FLAMINGOS

PINK FLAMINGOS is what happens when one director stops trying to impress Hollywood types and starts revelling in their discomfort.

How this movie found an audience I'll never understand. It has almost everything going against it. In this notorious cult film we follow Divine as Babs Johnson, underground celebrity living outside Baltimore and proud self-appointed holder of the title of “the filthiest person alive.” When a rival couple tries to challenge her reputation, the film becomes a gleefully deranged contest of bad behaviour, bad taste, and total social collapse.

Made on a tiny budget with Waters’ regular Dreamland collaborators, PINK FLAMINGOS helped define American transgressive cinema. It looks rough, sounds rough, and absolutely does not care. Waters built a film language out of trash culture, queer performance, DIY energy, tabloid absurdity, and open contempt for polite middle-class values.

Divine is the centre of everything. Loud, funny, glamorous, aggressive, and impossible to look away from, she turns Babs into one of the great cult characters of 1970s cinema. The film’s shock value is famous, but its real legacy is bigger than a few notorious moments. PINK FLAMINGOS opened space for midnight movies, punk cinema, queer underground comedy, and generations of filmmakers who realised you didn’t need permission to make something unforgettable.

Please note: this screening is age-restricted. All ticket holders must be 21 years or older. This film contains deliberately offensive material, sexual content, violence, and adult themes. Viewer discretion is advised.