Mary Harron's 1996 directorial debut, *I Shot Andy Warhol*, is returning to cinemas this summer in a new 4K restoration from Janus Films. The film chronicles the life of Valerie Solanas, who shot Andy Warhol in 1968, and has long been out of circulation due to bankrupt distributors, surviving mainly through a battered YouTube upload. Harron notes she had been trying for six or seven years to get the film back into theaters.
The film's return arrives at a moment when its treatment of gender and politics may resonate differently, as Harron believes audiences will better understand Solanas's radical feminism amid a cultural backslide toward male dominance. The restoration revives a queer cult classic that refuses to paint Solanas as either hero or villain, maintaining the ambivalence that defines Harron's career. It also highlights ongoing debates around trans-exclusionary feminism, as Solanas's *Scum Manifesto* contained both visionary ideas and deeply held prejudices.