Buddy Film ‘By Hook or By Crook’ Gets 25-Year 4K Restoration Screening in LA June 16

Harry Dodge (left), Silas Howard. Photo by Chloe Sherman/Courtesy Altered Innocence

The timing couldn’t be better for the re-release of the groundbreaking “By Hook or By Crook” in June. With LGBT+ communities and culture increasingly targeted, “Crook” returns to select theaters for a 25th anniversary restoration release.

A trans-and-butch buddy film, “Crook” opens theatrically in New York City June 12-18. A Los Angeles screening follows on June 16 at Vidiots, with a filmmakers Q&A. Another local screening is slated June 21 at Frida Cinema in Long Beach. Trom there the film goes to Seattle, St. Louis, Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, and more.

Boutique distributor Altered Innocence (“The People’s Joker”) is rolling out the 4K restoration.

A Groundbreaking Classic

“By Hook or By Crook” was a trailblazer in 2001, and is still considered innovative today. Among the first successful and critically acclaimed queer indie films shot on Mini-DV, it received worldwide acclaim.

The film earned many festival awards, including Audience and Jury Awards at SXSW and Outfest. It then secured a distribution deal with leading LGBTQ+ distributor Wolfe Releasing in 2003.

‘By Hook or By Crook’ Photo by Chloe Sherman/Courtesy of Altered Innocence

“One thing we did with that film that I think was ahead of its time,” said star/co-director Silas Howard, “is that we didn’t explain ourselves to anyone. We were non-binary and didn’t justify our characters’ gender expressions and experiences or define it to the audience. We wanted to make a film about a third gender, which is where I felt I personally lived, at the time.”

A Blueprint for Outsider Culture

After all these years, the film remains a creative and inherently political blueprint for humanizing outsider culture. Often called a queer indie “Midnight Cowboy,” “By Hook or By Crook” is a timely story that is important to recognize in today’s times.

“When we made ‘By Hook or By Crook’ we had no idea the film would go on to become an iconic mainstay of queer cinema,” said Howard. “We were young artists who wanted to make something representative of us and our culture. We didn’t see people who looked like us—gender non-conforming and trans folks—in mainstream media. We knew waiting around to get permission to be seen was futile.”

Digital Restoration Team

The digital restoration in 4K was completed through the Academy Film Archive and UCLA Film & Television Archive in conjunction with Frameline, Outfest, Steakhaus Productions, Inc., and the Sundance Institute. “By Hook or By Crook” was remastered using the latest technology with improved color correction to achieve the filmmakers’ original cinematic vision.

Digital and physical releases (DVD & Blu-Ray) will follow later this summer.  Click here for more information.

Vidiots at the Eagle Theater is located at 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90041.

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