Travesti Odyssey

Stemming from the Chilean tradition of hybrid cinema – combining elements of performative practice, film, and theatre – ”Travesti Odyssey” addresses issues of gender, queer history and memory, collective artistic practices in a patriarchal system, and straightforward feelings: love and friendship.

Although the film’s narrative centres on the trials and tribulations of the queer Cabaret Travesía Travesti, whose final performance coincides with the outbreak of a social rebellion taking place in Chile in October 2019 – the linear axis of the story doesn’t seem to carry any special meaning. “Travesti Odyssey” has the structure and dynamic of street riots, the dynamics of violent clashes with the police, and the poetics of revolution and social change. The same is true of the film’s aesthetics: it was assembled from fragments shot on film, on VHS, and mini Dv tapes. It draws us into a moving story and political counter-fiction, from which a picture strongly resembling the current Polish reality will eventually emerge.

This may be the most important film of the festival.

“Travesti Odyssey” is shown as part of the Chilean film section of the festival, “Touring the Chilean Body”, curated by our guests from the Eccentrico festival: Nicola Rios, Paula Vidal, and Bhav.