Recorded at the 2026 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, this episode sees Naemi Victoria catching up with two impactful and thought-provoking films screening at the festival.
First, she speaks with filmmaker Fanny Texier about her powerful short A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere, which won The Silver Bear Jury Prize for Best Short Film. Set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the film identical twin sisters Emilija and Ona as they face grief, looming eviction and an uncertain future after the sudden death of their mother. Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing New York City, the film becomes an intimate exploration of memory, sisterhood and motherhood.
Then, Naemi is joined by director Fil Ieropoulos and writer Foivos Dousos to discuss Uchronia, a bold and visually expansive docu-essay inspired by Arthur Rimbaud’s Une Saison en Enfer. The film follows the ghost of the French poet on a time-travelling journey through alternative histories, revolutionary politics and queer resistance, weaving together experimental cinema, poetry and contemporary political reflection.
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A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere
Identical twin sisters Emilija and Ona have lived in a rent-controlled warehouse loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for as long as they can remember. After the sudden death of their mother – a Lithuanian artist and dancer who first called the loft home in the 1970s – they find themselves on the brink of eviction. The neighbourhood has transformed; the landlord wants them out. Adding to the turmoil, Ona discovers she is pregnant. A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere tells an intimate story of grief, memory, sisterhood and motherhood, set against the backdrop of an ever-evolving New York City.
Fanny Texier
The documentary filmmaker was born in Paris, France and is now based in Brooklyn. She studied journalism at the University of Montreal and has a master’s degree from the Sorbonne. As a feminist director, she is drawn to intimate and unusual stories, particularly those of women and individuals who are under-represented in traditional media. Her work has been presented by organisations including HBO, Netflix, “The New Yorker”, the BBC and Showtime. She recently participated in the Film at Lincoln Center Artists Academy and the newportFILM lab to develop her debut feature-length documentary.
2018 Rainbow Ladies; short film 2022 Unattached; short film 2023 It’s Muffy Queen; short film 2026 A Woman’s Place Is Everywhere; short documentary
Uchronia
In this docu-essay inspired by Arthur Rimbaud’s “Une Saison en Enfer”, we meet the French poet’s ghost embarking on a time-travel adventure. His delirious visions become portals opening onto alternative timelines – or “uchronias”. Rimbaud gains the opportunity to meet revolutionary figures such as Emma Goldman, David Wojnarowicz and Marsha P. Johnson. Together, they explore the possibility of social change and reflect on the meaning of revolution in times of disillusionment. Inspired by the rich history of 20th-century experimental queer cinema, the film is a celebration of enfants terribles and dissident freaks across the globe. Ultimately, the film considers the current political milieu and its parallels with Rimbaud’s own time. Could post-internet ennui and widespread defeatism be understood through the eyes of a late 19th-century decadent poet? Can his critique of national identity and European concepts of barbarism be relevant to today’s far-right EU turn? How do we navigate mainstream queer visibility while transphobia remains rampant? Dealing with these rhetorical yet pertinent questions, the film is simultaneously an alternative history, a synesthetic poem and a rollercoaster of affect.
Fil Ieropoulos, Director
Fil studied film, cultural studies and communication in the UK, completing a PhD in film poetry at the University of Kent in 2010. Since 2003, he has been a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University, teaching video art, film theory and animation. His first feature, Orfeas2021, premiered at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and was nominated for Greek Film Academy awards. His second feature, Avant-Drag!, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and has been selected for over 70 international festivals, earning a Special Jury Mention at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.
Foivos Dousos, Writer
Foivos completed his PhD on narcissism in new media cultures in 2019. He was a contributing curator for the Athens Biennale and was a founding member of Sound Acts Festival, the Athens Museum of Queer Arts (AMOQA) and the publishing initiative Queer Ink. In his creative practice as part of the artistic duo FYTA, he has performed in Athens, Geneva, Berlin and London. FYTA's work problematizes Greek identity and nationalism and often employs playfulness, humour and irony.
Working across media and disciplines, they operate within a wider framework of overidentification, queer politics and anti-humanist art, while aiming at a performative destabilisation of concepts of truth and nature. In 2020, FYTA were commissioned by the Greek National Opera to present a queer adaptation of Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo. This work, initially conceived as a staged opera, was later turned into a film (ORFEAS2021) which premiered at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 2021. ORFEAS2021 was screened in film festivals and art spaces in Toronto, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Boston, and others. In 2023, Foivos worked as a producer and writer for the upcoming documentary, "Avant Drag!" discussing the emergent political drag scene of Athens.
