MARBLE ASS (1995) (Church of Film)

Two trans sex workers, Merlinka and Sanela, live together in Belgrade ravaged by nationalism and war. When their friend Johnny returns from Bosnia, he is a deeply damaged, and his violence and instability threaten to upend their safe and quiet home. They adopt the roles of matriarchs on a mission of pacifism and healing. MARBLE ASS is one of the world’s most unusual and remarkable films. Shot on Betamax tapes taken from Austrian TV crews during the horrific wars tearing apart the nations of the former Yugoslavia, it was a poignant looking into the  lives of trans women in Belgrade, the toll of the wars, and an act of resistance as a contemplation of peace and a rejection of war. It is part horror, part John Waters, and part Billy Wilder comedy. It was a late masterpiece of Serbia’s most radical filmmaker, Zelimar Zilnik (Early Works). 

CW: Animal Cruelty, Violence