PHAG OFF Queer Horror or the subliminal lightness of becoming
Phag Off continues its « subliminal » voyage by participating for the fourth time to Tekfestival. We use the word « subliminal » as a way of envisioning the queer zone pursued by Phag Off, as the intersection between a theoretical analysis of gender and sexual orientation, and a form of cinematography aimed at the promotion of independent forms of cultural production and distribution, and the achievement of vitriolic entertainment. The idea of the « subliminal » refers to a postmodern understanding of passage : the titles we have chosen are meant to encourage a reflection on the precariousness of life in contexts lacking fundamental rights, especially at the national level. Moreover, we seek to highlight some of the limits of the language used by the glbt movement, which sometimes falls short of providing a critique of the invisible ways in which power reproduces itself and incorporates the movements.
For this reason, this year’s edition centers around a cinematographic genre that emphasizes precariousness, loss of control, subliminal experiences. In our case, HORROR is examined with a slight black humor, particularly in two out of the four Pivot movies that make up this window. For example, Bruce LaBruce’s latest movie, “Otto; Or, Up with Dead People,” which focuses on the one hand on the issue of identity, and on the uneasiness that characterizes one’s positioning oneself between the non-alive and the non-dead, and, on the other hand, on the theme of glbt movements, and their being subject to a process of zombification. Or also «Dancing», by P. M. Bernard, X. Brillat, and P. Trividic, which adopts an obscure and surreal language, influenced by Lynch, to encourage a reflection on masculinity and psychosis. The relationship between pleasure and pain is at the center of a movie like «Improvvisamente l’inverno scorso» (Suddenly Last Winter) by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, which brings the experience of critique to its extreme, and emphasizes the horrors of Italian homophobia. Finally, the subliminal pleasure of the fall is at the center of “Glue” by A. Dos Santos, a production of Argentina’s “new wave” queer cinema, which depicts the teenage experience as a queer space of sexual investigation. Around these titles, there will be a range of short films and linguistic experimentations, such as photographic documentaries, fiction, porn, television detournement, animation, by artists such as Charles Lum, Florance Fradelizi, Jonathan Robinson, Claudia Pajewski, Jeremy Stewart, Aron Kantor. Phag Off invites you to view these movies, and abandon your fixed being to embrace the subliminal lightness of becoming.
We would like to thank the various institutes and cultural centers that have supported this window, in particular “Da Sodoma A Hollywood” - Turin International GLBT Film Festival, “Ffglp” Festival de Films Gay et Lesbiens de Paris, The French Embassy, The gay cultural center “Mario Mieli”, Epicentro URsino Romano/Subwoofer, and the weekly supplement of Liberazione, “Queer”.
