MARBLE ASS
dir: Želimir Žilnik, 1995, FR Yugoslavia, 87 mins, Serbian with English Subtitles
To celebrate Serbia’s historic election results, we’re bringing back one of my all-time favourite films: Marble Ass (1995), Želimir Žilnik’s gloriously chaotic celebration of Belgrade’s underground trans and queer community in the middle of the Yugoslav Wars.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS COMEBACK AS IT TRULY HAS IT ALL: BALKAN BUTCH REALNESS, TRANS LOVE, SEX WORK AS A “WAR CURE,” WEIRD SCHEMES, AND ABSOLUTELY MINDBOGGLING DRAMA.
It’s Belgrade, 1995. Yugoslavia has fallen apart, Slobodan Milošević’s violent nationalist politics have helped fuel devastating wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia is experiencing the consequences of international sanctions, hyperinflation, and rampant organized crime. The country is descending into a particularly nasty combination of hypercapitalism, militarism, and far-right nationalism. Masculinity, meanwhile, is having an absolute field day.
Enter Merlinka. A trans sex worker and occasional actor essentially playing herself, Merlinka is the unofficial matriarch of a tight-knit community of trans sex workers. Surrounded by increasingly violent, nationalistic men, many returning from the front, she and her sisters must find new and creative ways to keep the peace.
The result is a wonderfully outrageous yet surprisingly tender film that celebrates trans love, friendship, and power without reducing trans lives to stories of suffering and injustice. After all, in a post-communist, war-torn, impoverished country, can anything still be considered just?
The story behind the film is almost as incredible as the film itself. A DIY miracle made with equipment borrowed from Austrian television and a cast drawn largely from Belgrade’s queer underground, Marble Ass was one of the first openly queer films to emerge from the former Yugoslavia. It went on to win the Teddy Award for Best Feature at the 1995 Berlinale, becoming one of the most enduring works of Žilnik, a veteran of Yugoslavia’s radical Black Wave cinema.
I know I say this about a lot of films, but this one truly is a gem. An anti-war, anti-establishment film, Marble Ass is more similar to the works of John Waters and Andy Warhol than anything coming out of Eastern Europe at the time. The fact that it exists at all feels like a small miracle, and I cannot wait to share it with you.
Before the screening, I’ll share more about the film’s rather unbelievable production history, along with a little history lesson for those of you less familiar with Eastern Europe.
A LITTLE HEADS-UP: While frequently hilarious, the film also contains some difficult material, including transphobia, blood, violence against people and animals, and references to war. Please keep this in mind!
Join us on Tuesday, November 24, at La Sala Rossa for an evening of Balkan chaos, trans love, political absurdity, and some truly excellent cinema. This screening is also a fundraiser for our film festival, so you’ll be helping us bring even more trans films to Montréal!
Bring your friends, your lovers, and anyone else looking for some trans cinematic trouble.
1995 | Serbia / Yugoslavia | 86 min | Serbian with English subtitles