Invisible Adversaries

Preceded by short: Man & Woman & Animal (Valie Export, Austria,1973) is an extension of Valie Export's personal performance work dealing with the body as site for psychosocial exploration. In this investigation of woman's pleasure, Export uses images of menstruation and masturbation to challenge patriarchal notions of visual pleasure. (12 mins, Color, 16mm, From Canyon Cinema) (Unsichtbare Gegner). The psychological science fiction film Invisible Adversaries tells the story of Anna, a photographer and videomaker struggling to make sense of a world gone mad. Over the radio she hears of an invasion of "Hyksos"-invisible aliens bent on destroying the world by colonizing minds. These adversaries produce violence by changing humans from within. What follows is the disintegration of perception and society as experienced by Anna. Her relationship also begins to fall apart and the sexual,intellectual, and emotional confrontations between Anna and her lover become central to the film. Export brings together a variety of media-still photography,video, and body art-lending further schizophrenia to the narrative. (JL)

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