English and Ukranian w/ English subtitles
What's the Ukrainian word for sex? Filmmaker Marusya Bociurkiw explores this question in the humorous and provocative Flesh and Blood, the first-ever Canadian film about East European queer sexualities. Coming to the realization that there is no language for sex in Ukrainian culture, she heads to Ukraine to find out why. A queer bar in Kyiv reveals drag queens in traditional Ukrainian costume; a trip to the suburbs introduces us to transsexual Lena and bisexual Oksana, who live with Oksana's two husbands and her grandmother in what they call a "poly-family." Interviews shot in Canada and Ukraine tell the story of sexual and cultural changes since the fall of the Berlin Wall: "Suddenly you had absolute freedom of speech," says Bulgarian émigré Milena," you can say anything, papers would print the most outrageous things...and that translated into a kind of sexual liberation."
Edited by Toronto video artist Dennis Day, with roots-inflected jazz by John Stetch and traditional bandura music by Roman Bociurkiw, Flesh and Blood deftly cross-cuts dialogue, music and stylized dramatic sequences.
