Coming off the tails of 2024’s lauded Avant Drag!, a portrait of colourful ancd politically active characters from the Athenian drag scene, director Fil Ieropoulos and writer Foivos Dousos return with Uchronia. Premiering at this year’s Berlinale Forum Expanded section, this vibrant docu-essay interprets Arthur Rimbaud’s poem A Season in Hell interweaving the histories of prominent queer figures. The result is a bold, uncompromising cinematic experience which inhabits the triptych juncture of activism, academic thought and performance.
Taking us through the nine distinct chapters of the extended poem is an avatar of Rimbaud (Kristof Lamp). He travels through non-linear time encountering queer revolutionaries. A collage of multi-lingual, multi-media imagery consisting of staged sets, public speeches, imagined re-enactments, archival footage and archival recordings. All underlined by a punk DIY spirit, mirroring Rimbaud’s own tumultuous, rebellious existence (he was once labelled a” hooligan” poet). A rich visual tapestry of queer life unfolds before us as well as a piercing critique of the status quo. It often tips the hat to transgressive filmmakers such as Kenneth Anger and Bruce La Bruce, in others the eloquent theatricality pays tribute to Derek Jarman.
The initial chapters start off rather forcefully. An ensemble cast of leading Greek and international avant-garde figures and accomplished actors deliver impassioned – at times aggressive – speeches seeking to instil a sense of urgency into the proceedings. The array of topics extends outside the parameters of queerness and the Greek borders. It encompasses the European Union, immigration, populism, fascism, “wokeness”, right-wing gays, and a lot more. No stone is left unturned. The message might comes across a little trite because you heard it all before many times. But here the words uttered are studied, contemplated, spoken with authority and a command of the subject matter.
As we traverse through the chapters, the approach gradually softens, the focus narrows on the individual queer stories. Impersonations of the likes of Martha P Johnson, Andy Warhol, Alan Turing, David Woznarowitz etc. prove entertaining and equally insightful. Some figures more problematic than others, most of them however marred by some tragedy. As we come to the close, we are privy to a behind-the-scenes section. Cast – including Ieropoulos – appearing vulnerable post-filming. When questioned about their notion of utopia, the confidence which they delivered their speeches is gone, replaced by elusive and opaque ideas.
This final act of self-analysis is exemplary to the film’s authenticity. This is a film that revels in its visual and oratory abundance, while also questioning its own integrity. We come to realise that utopia is subjective. And that it can be oppressive. Such prospect can make queer people feel hopeless.
Uchronia premiered at in the Forum Expanded section of the 76th Berlinale. The opening of this hyperpolitical film included a fiery protest against Wim Wenders’s (the International Jury President) preposterous claim that cinema exists in opposition to politics. Members of the cast and crew held signs saying: “Deutschland: we have a technical problem. Palestine exists“, “from the Danube to the North Sea, Germany remain unfree”, or the less succinct “Fuck Wim Wenders”.
