Anna Helme

Reclaiming public space through the art of water dance, Aquaporko! is not only the name of the fat femme synchronized swim team that Kelli Jean co founded in Sydney Australia, it is also the title of the documentary film that it inspired. A camp look into the freedom of self respect taking up space and the power of friendship.

In a mythic parallel reality, a young man yearns for affinity and connection. In this age of digital avatars, he crafts a version of himself that is far more corporeal - by stitching together parts of himself to become his own cyborg twin. He calls this miraculous being into existence with a techno-magick concoction of symbology and code, and for a while they enjoy a strange and touching get-to-know-you-better of the self. But the cyborg has been corrupted by a cyberfeminist virus. This Other self embodies a dangerous idea: that there are parts of ourselves beyond our control. This lo-fi sci-fi features two transgender men, performing a very queer version of their own lives. It is an experimental hybrid of documentary, fiction and performance art.

Croatia, 1999. Adele, a young Australian woman travels by the sea, staying in an abandoned building, amid echoes of war. She meets Antonija, whose life has been fractured by the conflicts that tore apart the former-Yugoslavia, and together they discover the uncanny intimacy that can develop between strangers.