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Adonia

A drag princess wakes up in a magical forest. There, she meets wild creatures that help her transition into her other self.

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Adonia is an ecosexual fairy tale, a dreamy merging of ancient paganism, Alice in Wonderland and is heavily inspired by Alexander McQueen’s Collection No. 13 show.

This romantically pagan experiment plays with both sides of the gender spectrum.

The ever virginal Belle Dommage finds herself in a fairy tale forest. There, she is taken over by satyr-like creatures who introduce her into their world. Played by Bustie La Tish and Marguerite Rue, they represent a romantically pagan take on gender, where femininity and masculinity walk hand in hand. A gendered fantasy that is close to wilderness and the elements. By the end of their journey, Belle Dommage undergoes a ritual which stains her virginal dress, forever.

  • Iztok Klančar
    Director
  • Belle Dommage
    Writer
  • Belle Dommage
    Key Cast
  • Bustie La Tish
    Key Cast
  • Marguerite Rue
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short
  • Genres:
    lgbtq, trans, non-binary, gender-bending
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 26 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 7, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    500 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Netherlands
  • Country of Filming:
    Netherlands
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Queer Resilience (shorts) in the Eye Filmmuseum
    Amsterdam
    Netherlands
    June 13, 2023
    Dutch premiere
Director Biography - Iztok Klančar

Iztok Klančar (born in 1980 - Trbovlje, Slovenia) is a filmmaker and photographer. He lives and works in Haarlem, The Netherlands. As an artist, teacher and curator he tells and facilitates personal stories that resonate within and beyond the LGBTQIA+ community.

After completing the studies of Art History at the University of Ljubljana in 2006, Klančar studied photography at the KABK - Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. After graduating in 2012, he presents his work as installations in galleries (Nederlands Fotomuseum, Showroom MAMA, Center for Contemporary Art Celje), at various screenings (EYE Filmmuseum, Kasseler Dokfest, PFF Vienna), as visuals (Slovenian Cinematheque and music festivals) and online as music videos.

He taught at both HKU Design in Utrecht and the KABK in The Hague. There, he gave filmmaking lessons, as well as tutoring on moving image installations. Recently, Klančar also compiled a queer short film programme at the Eye Filmmuseum, as well as being a member of the international jury for the 39th Ljubljana LGBT Festival.

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Miguel Matias was born in Cascais, Portugal, in 1985. His stage experience started at kindergarden in a children's play and since then he's been developing his stage skills.

In 2006 he completed a professional course in theatre as an actor and in 2013 a BA in theatre and performance arts. His debut as a professional actor took place in 2007, working as such in several national and international theatre and cinema productions for the following years.

Alongside, he developed an interest for the study of movement and body expression, exploring areas like contemporary dance and burlesque, but mostly aerial acrobatics in the subjects of aerial silks and aerial hoop.

More recently, he has found a new interest in gender performance, a matter that has been an important catalyst on his career since 2016 and where he found the utmost medium to convene all his passions, creating his ultimate alter-ego, Belle Dommage, a genderbending creature of night who is projecting hard male fetishes, as well as hyper femininity.

Matias is also a certified makeup artist. He creates most of the outfits and accessories for his performances. He lives and works in Lisbon and in Amsterdam.

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Director Statement

In my own work, I rewrite personal stories and observations into fictional narratives and scripts which reveal the inner lives of our personae. Combined with soundscapes and performance, my work triggers mental undercurrents. The same goes for works I choose as a curator: I believe in the intensity of immersive moving image that can stir up the audience's emotional landscape. As a teacher, I strive to create a space in which my students give life to their alter egos, while they learn skills for managing their ambitious moving image projects.