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March 27: Debut of Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart Film, “American Swing”

American Swing
a documentary about the 1970s swing sex club “Plato’s Retreat”

Directed by: Mathew Kaufman (co-director) and Jon Hart (co-director)

Opens March 27th in New York at the Quad Cinema. www.quadcinema.com
The year was 1977 and New York City burned. As the metropolis hurtled into bankruptcy, the city’s nightlife hit unprecedented heights. In midtown, the ultra-exclusive Studio 54 was a cocaine-fueled celebrity playhouse. Downtown, at the spartan CBGB’s, punk rockers set out to destroy everything Pop. Meanwhile, in the basement of the prestigious Ansonia building on the conservative Upper West Side, Plato’s Retreat opened its doors to ordinary couples who came to dance, to swim, and…to swap.

It was the start of a revolution. The brainchild of former wholesale meat purveyor Larry Levenson, Plato’s Retreat quickly emerged as the epicenter of public sex for the “me” generation. Previously, swinging was mostly an underground activity, engaged in primarily by the attractive and well-to-do. But Plato’s welcomed anyone and everyone. For a mere $35, couples checked their judgments and pedigrees at the door at this clothing-optioned Disneyland. Debutantes got it on next to bus drivers, as movie stars gave secretaries the “starlet treatment.”

For Levenson and others, Plato’s was utopia. For some, it is a time capsule that they are eager to forget.

Utilizing exclusive interviews with former patrons, employees, and family members, intercut with riveting, rare never-before-seen archival materials, American Swing brings this epicenter of sex and excess to the big screen for the first time.

Starts	March 27 2009
Ends / Deadline	January 1 2009
Homepage	www.magpictures.com
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Issues	Gay/Lesbian, Gender/Women, Health/Health Advocacy, Media, Politics/Government