8 min. / Bulgaria / no dialog / dir. Pencho Kunchev
A sensuous short film that seems inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses. We watch as women’s bodies and body parts are transformed into plants, animals, rural landscapes, and other natural features and then back again, often in an effort to evade male sexual predation. The film then takes a turn toward more overt Lesbian eroticism while still exploring the motif of transformation. There are some especially suggestive moments here, such as when a woman’s vulva is transformed into a fish, or when two youths expose their genitals and explore those of an older female. The film is accompanied by an eerie New Age soundscape that adds to its dreamy and flowing aesthetic.
As it turns out, Bulgarian director Kunchev’s more direct source of inspiration was Pierre Louÿs’ “Songs of Bilitis,” a collection of erotic poems that were published in Paris in 1894. Louÿs claimed he had translated these ancient poems, which were allegedly written by a hetaira named Bilitis, whose style was very similar to that of the famed poet Sappho. He claimed they had been found in her tomb in Cyprus, but as it turns out they were authored by Louÿs himself. They caused quite a sensation when they were published, as they openly described and celebrated lesbian sexuality. They were believed by many scholars to be authentic, but were eventually discovered to be forgeries, though they are still valued in their own right today as early examples of modern queer literature.
The film won 3 awards: Best Short Film at the Barcelona International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in 2002; also Best Animated Film at the Golden Rhyton Bulgarian Documentary and Animation Film Festival in 2001.
(Thanks to Angelo Fornaro for bringing this film to my attention!)
More: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381389/?ref_=tturv_ov_bk
Animated Antiquity 
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