Harrod Blank

When Albuquerque’s Rusty Tidenberg, auto mechanic and drag-racing aficionado, came out as transgender, she began a remarkable personal journey through identity and self-discovery. Followed for eight years by filmmaker Harrod Blank (son of Les Blank), Rusty guides us through the aftermath of her transition, as growing acceptance among her straight-talking Southwest community still doesn’t ease her romantic and professional woes. Interwoven with lively tales of gender-nonconforming individuals in the art-car community of which Blank is a part, WHY CAN’T I BE ME? AROUND YOU is a sensitive and unpredictable love letter to people who fight to be unapologetically themselves.

A zesty paean of praise to the greater glories of garlic. This lip-smacking foray into the history, consumption, cultivation and culinary/curative powers of the stinking rose features chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, and a flavorful musical soundtrack. A film by Les Blank with Maureen Gosling, 51 minutes,1980.