A long-neglected classic of Canadian experimental cinema, a triumph of erotic art, a film about which Gene Youngblood once wrote, “See it and you’ll see a window on the future: a Joyce-Burroughs assemblage of bold, poetic surreal visions of physical love in every conceivable form.

In 1967, John Hofsess released The Palace of Pleasure, a dual-screen therapeutic exploration of the erotic imagination. Intended as a trilogy, only the first two sequences were completed.

The first part, Redpath 25, is a fantasy meeting between a young woman and her dream lover; the second part, Black Zero, is a macabre, ritual vision of sexual freedom and domestic life that haunts the mind long after the screen has darkened.

First pressing, limited edition of 1000.

1967 / 38 minutes / colour / stereo / 2.66:1AR

SPECIAL FEATURES

Newly restored 4K digital master from the film’s surviving elements, approved by director John Hofsess
Commentary by film preservationist Stephen Broomer
The Columbus of Sex: a speculative reconstruction, an exploration of Hofsess’s lost feature film
The Looking Cure, a video essay by Broomer on Hofsess’s concept of ‘cinematherapy’
Resurrection of the Body, a speculative sequel to Hofsess’s film
Liner notes by Hofsess and Broomer