Central Florida Jewish Film Festival
Queen of the Deuce
For two decades Chelly Wilson reigned over 42nd Street in Manhattan, then referred to as the “Deuce,” as the pugnacious matriarch of a skin flick empire. A larger-than-life character with chutzpah to spare, Wilson owned several adult theaters and was known for her magnetism and shrewd business sense, thriving in the exclusively male underworld while prepared by her unusual history. Born Rachel Serrero into a devout Sephardic Jewish family, she was an avowed tomboy who smoked cigarettes, wore pants, and studied medicine until pressured by her father into a loveless marriage that produced two children. Always ahead of the curve, Wilson saw the writing on the wall for Jews and boarded the last ship out of Athens alone in 1939. With five dollars she turned a modest hot dog stand into a legitimate theater business before pivoting to adult films and changing New York’s seedy underbelly in the process. Weaving together archival footage, home movies, animated sequences and interviews with her daughters, grandchildren, friends, and associates, Queen of the Deuce is the rollicking and remarkable tale of a Jewish grandmother who built a pornographic legacy “one pubic hair at a time.”
Mensch Pass $136 (limited quantity): All 6 programs, First Priority Seating, Doors open 30 minutes early
Series Pass $78 (limited quantity): All 6 programs, Discounted Admission, Second Priority Seating
Individual Tickets $14
Passes and individual tickets can be purchased online or in person at Enzian’s box office.
Greece/Canada/Switzerland/USA, 2022, 78 min, Directed by Valerie Kontakos, In English and Greek with English subtitles
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“The depths of human ingenuity never fail to delight and surprise, and Chelly Wilson is one for the ages.”
– Jude Dry, INDIEWIRE