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The Do List

R.O. Kwon Screens a Favorite Kinky Film at ‘Zyzzyva’ Movie Night

The new series at the Roxie in San Francisco puts the literary and film worlds in conversation.
Sarah Hotchkiss
Person crawls on all fours with an envelope in mouth in an office
Maggie Gyllenhaal in the 2002 film directed by Steven Shainberg, screening at the Roxie on July 30 as part of the first ‘Zyzzyva’ Movie Night. (Lionsgate Films)

We love a recommendation from a respected source. And when an artist working in one medium recommends an artwork in another, it’s an extra treat. Here is another avenue into that person’s practice, a way to better understand their interests and creative inspirations. Also, talented people tend to like cool stuff.

It was a sense of this alternate entry point, combined with a desire to celebrate, as Zyzzyva Editor Oscar Villalon says, “the simple act of hanging out” that brought about San Francisco’s latest cross-disciplinary event, Zyzzyva Movie Night at the Roxie.

“One of the things that we talked about was how we really longed for a place and a time for the literary community to come together,” says author Ingrid Rojas Contreras, who’s co-hosting the series with Villalon. Specifically, she says, they were interested in “places that were outside of the traditional book releases and readings.”

With a bit more brainstorming, Zyzzyva Movie Night was born as a new, quarterly film series that answers the question, “What are your favorite writers watching?”

First up on Tuesday, July 30 is a pick from local author R.O. Kwon: the deliciously kinky 2002 movie Secretary. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader, the film is loosely adapted from a Mary Gaitskill short story, and dives into BDSM, office power dynamics and the erotic possibilities of “dull work.” It’s a logical, delightful selection from Kwon, whose most recent novel, Exhibit, centers on a sadomasochistic affair between a photographer and a ballerina.

Contreras says Secretary is an important first pick for other, more ideological reasons. “So much of what’s happening politically is trying to kill the art in us or the soft parts of us,” she says. “I think it’s so important to insist that our mental landscapes bend toward wanting art, toward desire and toward humanity.”

In the spirit of tangible, in-person revelry, the movie night is also a collaboration with Dog Eared Books, who will be set up in the Roxie’s lobby with copies of Exhibit and Kwon’s on-theme “recommended reading”: Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby; Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider; and Raven Leilani’s Luster. Kwon will linger after the screening for a short conversation about the movie and what it means to truly pursue desire.

One of Villalon’s dreams for Zyzzyva Movie Night is to create a literary event that people would be excited to bring their less bookish friend to. “Maybe this sounds a little silly, but I don’t think it is — something like an opportunity for an affordable first date,” he says.

(Warning to those considering Secretary as first date fodder: be prepared to possibly cover a lot of ground about one’s specific — ahem — likes and dislikes during that post-movie tête-à-tête.)

Contreras and Villalon envision the series as a quarterly endeavor. The next Zyzzyva Movie Night will feature novelist and poet Kaveh Akbar (author of the much-celebrated Martyr!) on Oct. 13, in collaboration with Litquake.

For Villalon, who came on as the literary journal’s third editor a little over a year ago, this is a natural extension of Zyzzyva’s previous decades of programming, and an example of the direction he wants the journal to take moving forward. Zyzzyva will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025.

“We really want to ingrain ourselves further in the city and in the Bay Area in general,” he says, “and be a facilitator for the community to come out and have a good time.”

‘Zyzzyva Movie Night: Secretary’ takes place Tuesday, July 30, 2024 with doors opening at 5:30 p.m., movie starting at 6 p.m.

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