Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film

Pure Nonfiction: Inside Documentary Film


167: Sébastien Lifshitz on "Casa Susanna"

August 24, 2023

"Casa Susanna," playing on PBS Passport, tells the secret history of a Catskills resort in the late 1950s and early 1960s that was a safe haven for transgender expression. Pure Nonfiction host Thom Powers interviews director Sébastien Lifshitz on how he won the trust of the film’s participants to share their stories after six decades.

Further reading: photo historian Isabelle Bonnet on Casa Susanna.