The Cinematheque

“Compton’s drive to make her first movie without any formal filmmaking training was similar to Raina’s pursuit of living life on her own terms … The film shares the cinematic experimentation and stylish, youth-centric rebellion of the French New Wave, made even more radical by its progressive portrayals of female independence and sexuality, beatnik culture, and discussions of homosexuality.”

Maya Montañez Smukler, UCLA Film & Television Archive

Almost-forgotten American indie Juleen Compton wrote, directed, starred in, self-financed, and self-distributed her free-wheeling, semi-autobiographical first feature. Compton is Raina, a sexually-free young American travelling in Greece with her American lover (Gary Collins) and her French best friend, a gay man (Gian Pietro Calasso). The non-judgmental treatment of female sexuality was unusual for the time. The film debuted at Cannes but has been little-seen since.

Preservation funded by Century Arts Foundation.