There is a scene, Aurora (one of the Avant-Drag’s queens) sings a song on the road. This scene reminded me of another movie scene from Stray Dogs (Ming-liang Tsai, Taiwan, France, 2013). In Tsai’s movie, there are many women who sell houses using discount cards. They look like advertising panels in flesh and blood. The only difference between the drag queens in Athens and these women is that they are the advertisement itself. A different kind of extension, similar to the same apathy and “all right on the night” mentality. You will feel like you are on a galactic journey when you watch director Fil Ieropoulos’s second documentary film, Avant-Drag!(2024), which will be screened this year as part of the 16th edition of Human Rights Day at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival.
Editor: Mercan Baş
Director Ieropoulos’s movie expands a chaotic but fully glittering, perfect, and fearless world! The film has a captivating unreal texture. In fact, the visual experience of the movie resembles the dreamland of Guy Maddin’s cinema. But the director doesn’t choose an easy way; Ieropoulos’s top-down storytelling preference deserves credit for something: finding something small in a big window or capturing something big in a small space. Pagan Magnets story in the documentary, is a perfect example of this. They are a drag duo–mother and daughter or two sisters. Who knows? It’s an ultimate universe shaped by the director’s characters. The director doesn’t tell us a well-known homophobic/transphobic story again or point out the reasonable or unreasonable reasons. Each character’s story becomes truly valuable and unique because every queen comes from a part of the world where people are striving to survive. As you follow these queens, you’ll witness their stories of struggle unfold step by step.
Zackie Oh!, Angel and our children¹
The film is divided into many chapters, each presenting the experiences of a different drag character from Greece. It’s a beautiful playground to explore in different contexts! As the saying goes ‘something grows from where it gets stuck’, and this film really embodies that sentiment. In this respect, there is something empowering about the film. Every story opens a new door, and behind every new door lies a long staircase to climb, much like in Alice in Wonderland.
“The queens in the film don’t just play a role”, as the narrator said. So the film indicates that growing is not linear, it’s circular. Traumatic experiences are like a sandcastle eroded by waves, yet these powerful queens stand up and face each new era. Drag surely opens the door to the basement. The narratives of the characters in the film are essential for seeing the big, wonderful picture from various perspectives.
Facing darkness, wigs, wearing and collecting trash, finding luxury, confronting fears, experiencing joys–these are not just toys or prizes that you win at the end of the day. There is a symbiotic relationship between what you search for and what you find. You will see a perfect cause-and-effect relationship when you reflect on the film. The drag queens want to be visible by being themselves, but they also need to be themselves in order to be visible.
Director Ieropoulos uses repeated moments–standing up, speaking up, dressing up, and revealing something–giving the documentary a distinctive rhythm through these recurring themes.The stories of the characters who have lived through similar experiences basically show that even small differences are precious for fostering diversity. Avant-Drag! is a film about the possibilities of living together, not just on the fringes of the city, but in its very heart.
Rest in peace dear Zackie Oh!² and all the souls who are fighting for their lives and futures.
Its a reference of one of the Turkish movie ‘Gece, Melek ve Bizim Çocuklar’ by Atıf Yılmaz (1994)
Zackie Oh! (Zacharias “Zak” Kostopoulos) was an Greek-American human rights activist defending the rights of LGBTQIA+ rights, HIV+ people, sex workers, and refugees; and Zackie was killed in Athens in 2018. The film often mentions this activist to honour them.
This article was published on August 20, 2024, on velvele.net.
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