Dahomey, 2024

by Mati Diop

I know its been a while my dear readers, I was again in a hole, binge watching k drama and oh yeah the Berlinale happened. Unfortunately the Berlinale fucked up twice, first by inviting the AFD- Nazi Party to the Filmfestival and a second time by fascist treatment of a the Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra after their film 'No Other Land' won the a price for the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary Film... WHHHHHYYYYY Germany so disappointing. So yeah I was digging myself under my blanket or working in the library with a friend on my non existent art practice, but I made it to one film at the Berlinale. As a low budget filmmaker myself, I know how hard it is for filmmakers to get funding or places, where their films are shown, so I feel for those ones, who were selected, since its an international film festival and to quote here one my old philosophy professors: more language means more world. I wanna see and learn and cherish and cry and be angry and devastated and touched. the world of film is sharing ideas trough images. And its a dangerous but also precious gift.

Anyways, we start with a documentary I saw there by Mati Diop, titled " Dahomey". Mati Diop won as the first african female director the grand price at Cannes for her Film "Atlantique" in 2019. The film has actually 3 entities. It's a documentary showing the return of 26 Benin bronce treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey to Benin. The first entity is the ghosts Voice of the treasure, they are speaking to us, to the audience, sharing their thoughts and their disconnect to their homecountry as well as their transportation back. The voice is written and spoken by Makenzy Orcel, a haitian writer. The transportation to their The second entity is the bureaucratic reality. we see the art historians and their helpers, checking and packing the works for the transportation by plane from France. We see how cautious they are and tbh I got scared for the works and would probably shit my pants, If I was responsible for taking care of this important treasure. one of my favorite scenes was when the chef of the return operation put a little fine string on a details of the benin sculpture for the transport. The little Detail. The third entity is the arrival in Abomey, Benin and the building of a museum for the works, which is also accompanied by student meetings, where they discuss what this return means and how come from the 7000 stolen treasures only 26 get back, and how do you deal with something that was stolen from you and suddenly comes back partly, how does artworks that also serve a religious purpose and become part of your identification with a place or a nation affect you? Also what does it mean to learn about french art history but not about your own, since it was stolen by colonizers? Those are just examples, the conversations went on.

There were moments, when Mati Diop showed the very intimate moment, like the first time, visitors could see the treasures in the new museum and their reaction. The first night of the sculptures is accompanied by the ghost voice of them talking again to us in the Museum and their reflection on it.

What I liked about the film is, that you as a viewer, are enganged in a conversation, you listen to the sculpture and therefor in this film, the sculpture becomes a real person, with feelings and fear and depth, you also listen to the human world, you observe what they are doing, and you observe how they talk about you, what they feel when they look at you. Therefor I consider this film genius so longer I think about it. Its a documentary but its magical. The film was not made in the perspective for us, the film is made out of the perspective of the ghost of the sculptures, looking into their future and in our present.

I barely know stuff about yorubian folktales, but I read once this amazing book by nigerian novelist Amos Tutuola "my life in the bush of ghosts", where he was inspired by yorubian folktales he grew up in, and some of the ghosts there, there are a looot of ghosts in the book, that have this animal heads, and when I saw the Benin treasures in the film, of the kings, with the animal heads and I thought about the ghosts in the book, I was very touched, since they also say in the film: The heads of the sculptures are depicted as one of the animals. you become a sculpture when you die, but you are not allowed to see it. when you lived a good life, they will make a sculpture of you, but you cant see it, or you will be cursed.

Besides I really recommend you guys to read at some point in your life " my life in the bush of ghosts", if you are interested of course.

I don't wanna spoiler to hard here, since the film will be released in theaters in September, but I highly recommend you to go and see it in a cinema, not at home, if its possible for you and affordable in any way, I know many people having a hard time rn.

Also this is my personal opinion, but yeah this world will be cursed forever, if all the countries wont get back their stolen treasures and art. Also Reparation payments must be done basically for eternity. I hope some important asshole watched the film and will realize that even if you were not alive when the bad things happen, if you are in a power position and have access to make decision, recognize your responsibility to create acts of apology and give the stolen things back and support.

in this words,

take care my readers

<3

the queerview

Priscilla, 2023

by Sofia Coppola

Well how couldn't I write about Priscilla.

Where do we start. As a millenial dirtbag I grew up with Coppolas Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation and Marie Antoinette. All films fetishizing young girls. Around the 2010 there weren't many female filmmakers present, and we could say that Sofia Coppolas films were therefore as much creating a certain tumblr aesthetic, that reminds of teengirls/horsegirl fantasies, thou there weren't horses, as well as depicting a certain type of white girl, her characters mostly malenourished, blond, dreamy. What a cis men could connect trough our male gazed history as pedophile lolita-aesthetic (thanks nabokov. fuck you), would be read trough my pre-coming out gaze as something I wanna be and therefor something I realize at the end desire. Coppolas characters are those lost babes, that are bored and sad, intellectually unchallanged, and living in bizarre patriarchical structures ( thinking of the Character in Lost in translation, living isolated in Tokio because of her photographer boyfriend) or Marie Antoinette, who lives in an arranged marriage with a King, she barely knows. All those babes I want to save, I wanna take them out of the social prisons and have fun with them, and thats what those characters are basically doing in Sofias films. They escape trough different ways, and still they are all highly commercialized, superficial product value oriented, fashion films. Here we realize, that I'm bought as much as in the idea of the patriarchical constructed princess peach syndrom ( I'm supermario saving princess peach) as much as Sofia Coppolas films are in any way feminist or questioning this order.

Well so lets roast Priscilla.

I was actually very excited to see the film, especially interested in the costumes and how Coppola would deal with this grooming tale. Just a little background info: Priscilla Presley was 14 years old and Elvis was 24, when the grooming process happened. They married when she was 21 , but Priscilla started living isolated at Presley's Graceland, when she was 17/18. Elvis brought her into contact with amphetamines and sleeping pills and yeah basically groomed that kid.

The film itself is beautifully shot, as viewers we are very much following up the story out of Priscillas perspective. The prison in form of the Graceland ranch, is present here as well. Her feelings of isolation and lonelyness ( Priscilla is not allowed to have friends during her stay with Elvis) is depicted trough many close up of details, like the carpet in the house, scenes of her dog, details of her doing Make up. The control freak Elvis is treating her like a doll, and decides on her looks and dresses, who she talks to, where she even goes to school to. It's BIZARRE. But yeah all those tik tok kids out there imitating the 50s/60s fashion looks right, ITS BAD. those times were bad, and we queers would all be in prison. It's scary my dear readers. Watching time period films to me is always such a strange experience.

Anyways back to the film. So the film is dealing with Priscillas life from the moment she meets and leaves Elvis, and thats basically it. We see her adolesence passing in the prison of Elvis, and the film therefore reminds me of an old, pink stamp. It's not life changing, but beautifully filmed, like an ass log prada commercial, but also its pace is very slow, but not to slow. It's definetly an arthouse film, and I wished she had the freedom in her music choices like in her earlier works, as an example indie music and converse in Marie Antoinette.

I also thought a lot about if Coppola is actually bi/gay anything? Like she has as a certain way of depicting women, very sensual camerashoots, mellow color grading, pastell light situations, also FEET, like details. Personal theory since I witness that a lot in films made by women, this obsession with details. I feel like since we live in a patriarchical society and women were for a long time considered less smart ( educational systems, the performance of women in scientific fields worldwide is : Across the world, roughly 33% of persons employed in science research are female. The highest share is in Central Asia at 48.5% and the lowest in South and West Asia at 23.1%) SO in my theory they are so intellectually underchallanged, that they develop an obsession with details :D

But yeah the film is respectful towards the character of Priscilla, who came herself to the premiere, because the rape scene with Elvis is not depicted. It's still thou not really moving me in any way. Like I end up with the same feeling, while watching the film, I wanna kick Priscillas ass and tell her to leave and have her youth and not be in this prison. But it's not my position and as my experience being a human in this planet, not everybody want to be saved, like you can only help someone in a toxic relationship if the person asks and wants your help. So the film is evoking again those princess peach thoughts within me. I wish for Sofia Coppola to make once a film about a women, who doesn't live in a prison and maybe saves herself. Within this, babes be strong be brave out there and take care.

yours,

the queerview

Saltburn (2023)

by Emerald Fennell

My dear readers,

I know it seemes like I abandoned you, but lately I really felt no need to write about a film, that would capture a certain Zeitgeist or some surprise to me. I wanted to write about the show "los espookys" by the creators Julio Torres, Ana Fabrega, Fred Armisen, a mexian-american comedy tv, which really made me pass this quite depressing winter in Berlin. But los espookys felt more like a warm, fresh bread, that I could snack at a sunny day, so I might write about it on a better day.

Today we gonna talk about the highly controversially labeled film Saltburn, directed by Emerald Fennell, who directed as well the masterpiece "Promising young women". You might remember this heavy, metoo themed vendetta film, with the amazing violine version of Britney Spears "Toxic".

Saltburn is a film about a guy namend Oliver enrolling in oxford, starting to be obsesses with everybod¥s darling Felix. Felix, coming from a wealthy background gets tricked by Oliver into a friendship and after Oliver's father dies, Felix invites him to spent the summer at his castle in Saltburn. Living with Felix rich, aristocratic family and their flaws, Felix adapts easily with the new won luxury lifestyle and his obsession with Felix seems to grow, ending up with shocking scenes, that didn't seem to shock me at all and clearly seemed like intended provocative gestures from the director to get prices.

I won't spoiler to much here about the storyline to follow for the ones, who would like to see it and focus on the further part on my critic.

So the film starts building up with heavy color grading during the oxford times, it reminds of middle 2k format drama shows and keeps rolling up to arthouse typical shots, with intense skies in the background, different camera angles, close ups reminding of advertisement and homo erotica ala Abercombie ans Fitch. But it continues to pave its way into a forced horror shots, there are to many different genre laps in this thriller. We are dealing with such an overlap of genres, that trough the moving pictures we encounter, we get lost in the storyline. Till the first middle part of the film ( and the film is asslong) we develop an understanding of the world Oliver entered, being an outsider at Oxford. feelings of less worth trough class dividence till the mood is entirely changed and Olivers live at Saltburn reminds more of a Wes Anderson themed kill the rich format, critical wannabe but not critical at all. The portrayal of the riches and their misery Emerald is clearly missing, by still showing their glamour and their fresh "bed sheets" (a metaphor) trough the lense of a beautifully placed camera setting. Here a few examples:

So being rich is aesthetically pleasing seems like especially with scenes of Felix. the rich kid, depicted in perfect lightning, while the shots of oliver are always creepy and bizarre ( like i try not to spoiler here, you have to figure out why i say creepy, and by that i mean specifically him WATCHING, what you will understand while watching the film). Anyways the film ends with a portrayal of the riches being the poor ones and the middle class being super evil, but i wont elaborate here not to spoiler.

I think the performances of Barry Keohghan ( you might remember him from "the killing of a sacred deer" by Yorgos Lanthimos), Jacob Elordi (Priscilla by Sophia Coppola) and Archie Madekwe ( Midsommar by Ari Aster) were well played. Every character had their development, from Oli ( Barry Keohghan) starting as a loser, becoming more popular and later actually evil, to Felix ( Jake Elordi) starting as the nice guy towards the spoiled brat, that really thinks the world is made for him and he believes to be a good guy, to Farleigh ( Archie Madekwe) starting as a bully, changing towards loosing and winning and loosing in this societal game, and having as the only character at the end of the film of this male characters dominated film, complicated feelings of loss and pain.

So I think the film itself lost thou its pace. It started off like a high school drama college mid 2k, continued to arthouse sway and ended with a film, that seemed like it rather was a tv show not a film. I felt as if the director made wrong decisions towards the end. While the pace was very slowly in the beginning till the middle. the end of the film and therefor the resolution just happened to quick. I wonder how important the role of the budget was to finish it, since if you watch the film, and made films, you can only imagine how high the rentals for this castle as well as the hundreds of extras costed, if you consider this party scene. So i look it up now.

"The film reportedly had a $20 million (£18.4m) budget. Details on Saltburn's production costs remain under wraps, but it's estimated to have had a budget between $10 million and $38 million" ( google search)

Also for the ones of you who are interested what the actors and actresses earned here's https://www.showbizgalore.com/saltburn-cast-salary/

So yeah phu, I guess and this is my true honest opinion, because I believe in Emerald Fennel as a filmmaker ( love love love promising young woman), that she had probably dreamed of megacake, like the ones my friend B does, what are they called, oh yeah, MAXIMALIST CAKES. They look amazing, lashy, rich, and its really about the cover, but the inside is not as much interesting as the decour. So Emerald Fennel created a very superficial portrayal of the riches, its trying to be an eat the rich film, but it makes the middle class look scary and and its message is just loosing the point, but we have intense pictures, lots of color grading, like they did good, also the camerawork was trying literally the whole alphabet of lense operations in there. I think their money ran out and they had to finish it. So we are left with an unsatisfying speedy end, i dont believe any of this. but hey its a film.

Like it's not that deep as it wants to be. sorry Emerald, I know you can do better.

see you around

here

visiti my blog

hehehehe

Churails (2020)

by Asim Abbasi

Churails is a pakistani drama web series directed by Asim Abbasi for the indian entertainment channel Zindagi.

The series deals with four maincharacters, Zubaida, who is a college student and a secret boxer, who lives with her muslim, conservative family.Sara, who is a rich housewife of a politcian and an ex lawyer, Jugnu, an elite wedding planner and Batool, who just currently was released out of prison for killing her husband with an iron. Those four women connect trough different circumstances after Sara finds out her husband Jamil was cheating on her. She starts a burka store called halal designs, which runs undercover a cheating husband exposing bizniz. They find a time of other women for their bizniz and together they deal with their intense cases, one including a cannibal housewife. Together they are Churails, which means witches in urdu. چڑیل

The pace of the series is very fast. Many unexpected and expected stories happen under the churails. I haven't seen a show in a while with such intense story telling. Within short time as an audience you develop a good base of the character development. There is trans representation within the show and even LESBIANS.

Besides the complex society and class rules within their life and the personal dramas intertwined, the series is also dealing with colonial past, lgbtqia* issues, misogyny and racism within pakistani society ( I assume? I never been to Pakistan, so I can't tell actually, but within this show all those struggles are addressed) Abbasi said about including baby doll : "The fact that she’s transgender is not addressed on the show and that is deliberate. It’s not that I was overlooking her identity or ashamed of it. It was to show the women coming to the agency were all equal.” The title of the show literally translates to mean witches, but is more commonly used as an insult for rebellious women. “The associations of women who don’t conform with witchcraft is a global phenomenon, but in Pakistan specifically, any woman who is sexually and emotionally liberated, who has the ability to be aggressive when threatened is called a churail. We are taking it as a badge of honour.”

I love this show a lot, since besides those awful and heartbreaking stories, the main reason to watch this show are the amazing female characters, the friendship between those women and their will to fight injustice. They are kind of superheros I would say. Also I was very surprised by a positive depicition of men, who are part of the churails and help them to solve their cases, to do something right. I think it's important to show solidarity between gender depictions within a tv show for a possible utopia? Like call me out if I'm wrong but usually its women* playing supportive roles in a all men cast, we saw it many many times. But here the guys are the enemies, but as well there are supportive characters? So show a different path to follow.

Unfortunately the show was banned in Pakistan and many celebrities voices their anger about the canceling of the show.

Considering writing about this show, since it's not made by a queer of female director I had my issues. After researching deeper into the revolutionary cloud of this show, i find out its the first lesbian on screen show ever in Pakistan. in an interview with the guardian Abbasi said: “While we aren’t where we should be in terms of diversity, we have to start somewhere and adaptations are culturally rich,” said Abbasi. “You could say that Churails should have been made by a woman, but those opportunities aren’t there for women in Pakistan yet so I want to be an ally so their stories can be told.”

So I hope you guys forgive me, but I feel like it's worth to see all those actresses and this amazing story and yeah we are all in this together. <3 Cuz at the end of the day, i love the power of image making. I learn trough visual language about language ( literally speaking three languages daily I need to see a picture in my head if you talk to me).

Also I promise for my next review to write about a kazakhstani film, since i feel like many things in the show I couldn't understand out of lack of cultural knowledge, so it's time to write about something that I might be able to understand. And still I think it's very important to show my chapeau for this show. What a ride. Literally i was crying like many times. The actresses and actors were out of league. Like I was actually waiting daily from my moneyjobs to come home to see what the churails are fighting next.

ok by

cheery,

the queeeerview heheheh

Blue Jean (2023)

directed by Georgia Oakley

A lesbian drama placed in Margret Tatchers late 80s England. Jean is a closeted gym teacher living two lives between punky lesbian bar and teaching girls fake basketball. Last night my partner taught me that there were softer versions of sports like basketball or handball for women due sexism...like as an example netball which is like basketball but "softer"..

Jean got a new student Lois, who she encounters at the lesbian bar of her choice, scared about loosing her job, she threatens the young, gay student to be silent about her sexual identity. The young student is bullied by her teammates and the main bully kisses her in the shower, and portrayed it as sexual misconduct, which Jean saw while watching them in the shower ( CREEP*). Afterwards the student gets kicked out of school and starts working a shitty job. Jean is lying about Louis truth ( she obviously didn't assault the bully) to save her own ass. Parallel the actually beautiful side story between Jean and her dyke gf Viv ( which is my favorite character of the film) falls apart, when Viv realizes that Jean is clearly fucked in the head and won't be open about their love and is to afraid to be herself, besides NOT communicating her feelings and needs.

Jean followed Lois like a stalker (like leave that 15 year old alone bro that's not cool) but not to apologize but to tell her how bad she feels about being a coward and ruining Lois school career?

The film ends with Jean bringing Lois to a lesbian party, where they do fundraising for poor Lesbians, since they support each other.

okay now the roast.

Well i have to say, i liked the actresses, they did a good job with that. I clearly think Jean is a terrible role model and I'm tired of weird ass lesbian portraits. like do they always have to be such freaks?? like thinking of the the austrian lesbian drama "The Ground Beneath My Feet" (2019) by Marie Kreutzer. Like it's always a weird ass cliche or is it me? maybe as being a freak myself I crave for different representations.

In this film we know, that it took many brave women and queers to raise their voice, so I can walk basically. Why telling the story of the ones, that weren't brave enough or just casually ruined other queers live to save themselves? i guess to tell this story is also valid and important, but the way the movie did it, was build up in a way, that I have to feel empathy for Jean, but I don't. I'm actually angry and disappointed and feel that Jean ruined Lois life, since she was suspended. We don't know about Lois economic background, but since she starts working immediately, we can grasp that Lois won't have a second chance. How are Lesbians supposed to change the world and be visible, if they stay invisible trough gatekeeping by other lesbians. And then the Lesbian with the fancy flat chain smoking, brings you to a fundraiser party of poor lesbians????

I feel the director was interested to portray a complex search for identity, and thou its beautifully filmed, I struggle with the time span of the film, the use of a young, vulnerable person, without any big character development.. but hey maybe its that.. everyone else besides Jean in the film feels slightly not important, because in jean's world Jean is important..

It's Georgia Oakley second long film. I didn't watch Bored by her, but I will check out. Born 1988 Oakley choose they year, where she was born for her Drama blue Jean.

Jean finds a books at Vivs place, when she cant sleep. Its called Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness, and deals with a lesbian epidemic. Excited to dig into that.

your comments welcomed below<3

Huesera: The Bone Woman directed by Michelle Garza Cervera

2022 ‧ Drama/Horror ‧ 1h 33m

A story about a pregnant women with a hidden past. Followed by her desire for her real, queer love, this lady trying to be someone she's not by having a nuclear family type of situation with a dude, that a. does not believe in ghosts and demons ( always believe your partner) and b. looks like a penguin. During her pregnancy she starts seeing creepy demon like figures, her partner won't do sex with her, she starts seeing her ex gf again from her rebellious past. Occupied between this hot love affaire and being pegeant ( pregananante) she delivers le baby and deals with Postpartum depression, that her penguin man struggles to deal with. Leaving Valeria (her Name) alone once, she is possesed and puts le baby in the fridge???!!! All ends up her seeing witches and in a very beautifully, archaic ritual with witches she gets free from the demon, that possessed her. Seems like she created that demon out of her pain choosing the wrong decisions. A very strong picture and not horror at all I would say about neglect, living in the closet, fear of abandonement, and expectations queer folks face within heteronormative, cultural settings. Cerveras cinematographer Nur Rubio Sherwell was on point with creating mystical and silent atmospheres, and and Natalia Soliáns Performance as Valeria was giving Shelley Duval, Isabelle Adjani (Possession 1981) and a lil bit of Natalie Portmann in Black Swan. I really believe the main character Valeria being in despairand fear.

All in all, a taboo topic, especially when it comes to post baby depression and queers that chose to go back to heteronormative lifestyles for whatever reason, family expectations, family conflicts. I think it's worth seeing. Excited for Cerveras future films, since shes a quite young filmmaker. I think there is room for development within this very traditional filmmaking, that I encountered watching this film. I loved the sensitivity in the scenes, the light, the colors, the way her leading characters where portrayed. Everything within the film felt like it's out of Valerias perspective, we encounter the others with the fear within her. Hard to do with camera. One scene I particulary remember is her being felt from distance taking care of the baby bed in the children room while her penguin man is holding the baby and asking Valeria if he should stay. The distance between Valeria and the baby, we as an audience experience trough the distance of the camera within the room. We see the scene outside of the room filmed in distance, we feel the distance. A strong visual gesture at this point.

I'm grateful for any opinions on this film in the comments below.

byby