When Todd Haynes premiered Safe in 1995, he could have never foretold the moment in time we find ourselves in today. While the film was firmly set in 1987, the New York Times notoriously gaffed as a film “set in the future.”
And that’s where Todd Haynes lives—both of the now and of the past. His body of work, which treads the line between experimental and extraordinarily clear, creates expectations for the audience to move beyond the conventional and look deeply at gender, identity, and the world around them.
We were honored to have Todd join us as one of NWFC’s Cinema Unbound honorees and offer this further reflection on the 25th anniversary of Safe in this time both wholly unique and full of influence by the crises of our past.