QFFU Opening Night: Born in Flames x Queer in Wonderland

The film “Born in Flames” and the collective Queer in Wonderland open the fifth edition of the Queer Film Festival Utrecht at De Helling. Come and immerse yourself in a dystopian feminist protest night filled with science fiction, activism, and freaky dance beats provided by the DJs of Queer in Wonderland.

Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames is reminiscent of the political tool known as agitprop, with its mix of footage of real protests with fictional media reports, and its subversive message and violent climax. In many ways, its commentary still holds up today, for example, in its juxtaposition of white heteronormativity with black, queer feminism. The film responds to and criticizes the mentality of second-wave feminism of the 70s, which prioritized the rights of white, heterosexual women while still upholding racist, classicist, homophobic and ableist beliefs. It does this quite literally, for example, when the president’s announcement to offer stay-at-home moms a working wage gets hijacked by a broadcast of the Women’s Army calling for action.

Interestingly, the characters in Born in Flames are rarely portrayed by professional actors. Instead, nearly all the actors were directors, producers and/or radical activists themselves. The character of Zella Wylie, for example, who guides Adelaide in her role in the Women’s Army, is played by the intersectional radical feminist, lawyer, civil rights advocate, activist and allround legend Florynce Kennedy – lovingly named as ‘Flo Kennedy’ in the end credits.

Rosa Oomen, QFFU

This program is part of the retrospective Going Underground – An Introduction to New Queer Cinema. Film critic and scholar B. Ruby Rich was the first one to coin the term New Queer Cinema (NQC) to describe a wave of independent queer films made by queer directors from the early 80s to the mid 90s. These filmmakers explored issues such as race, class and gender identity within the LGBTQ+ community. With this program we want to give you a small taste of this groundbreaking cinematic movement. Come explore a collection of underground, experimental and rebellious queer cinema treasures that you rarely experience on the big screen.

Kicking off the festival with an exciting program at De Helling on September 1st, we are thrilled to collaborate with Queer in Wonderland to bring you a night filled with DJs, performances, and queer art.

Queer in Wonderland is a queer intersectional transfeminist collective born in 2019 in Utrecht, from the urgency to have more safer spaces for our community in the local nightlife. Irene Cassarini, one of the founders: ‘Our main goal is to create a welcoming space for our community to connect, explore, dance and have fun, while striving to raise awareness on socio-political issues that touch LGBTQIA+ people.’

You can buy a combi ticket for Born in Flames + Queer in Wonderland or just a ticket for the party.