Northwest Film Forum

Although it is likely you’ve never heard of Barney Rosset, he is one of the most influential cultural figures of the 20th century. Through his imprint Grove Press and his magazine Evergreen Review, Rosset fought tooth and nail (often before state and federal supreme courts) for the American right to read the works of Samuel Beckett Henry Miller, Jean Genet, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Harold Pinter, D H Lawrence, Alain Robbe–Grillet, Amiri Baraka and many other “enemies of morality.” “Grove was a valve for pressurized cultural energies,” says the now octogenarian and still feisty Rosset, “a breach in the dam of American Puritanism.” Obscene traces the important history and impact of Groove’s free speech fights — from Ginsburg’s “Howl” to “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” to the Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow) — while creating a fascinating portrait of the volatile, eccentric Rosset whose unyielding restless energy and questionable business sense upended both this country’s censorship law and his own life.

NWFF is happy to host an ACLU-moderated panel discussion after the 7pm show on Saturday, November 22. 

Panel members include:

Lafcadio Darling
Lafcadio's practice is concentrated on litigation, with an emphasis on commerical, antitrust and maritime disputes.  He has represented clients in a wide variety of litigation matters, including multi-party commercial disputes, unfair competition claims, construction defect, insurance litigation and large public liability cases. Lafcadio has tried cases in Superior and District Court, represented clients in arbitrations and mediations and argued appeals to state and federal appellate courts.  Lafcadio obtained a L.L.M in Commercial Law from the University of London. He earned a J.D. degree from UC Hastings College of the Law (cum laude 1999) and a Bachelors Degree in History from the University of San Diego (cum laude 1996).  Lafcadio is a Board member for Pasado's Safe Haven, a Washington animal rescue and advocacy organzation.  He is on the Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Panel and also does pro bono work for the ACLU of Washington. Lafcadio has written on a variety of legal subjects, including antitrust, intellectual property and animal cruelty.

Watch the trailer: