Minneapolis, MN, March xx, 2012— The Walker Art Center will present the area premiere of Marie Losier’s documentary film The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye on Wednesday, April 4 at 7:30 pm. Director Marie Losier and Genesis P-Orridge will be present at the screening. Tickets are $12 ($10 Walker members and students).
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye uncovers the fascinating love story Genesis P-Orridge—the iconic figure behind pre- and post-punk outfits Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV, both of which merged performance art with rock music—and Lady Jaye, née Jacqueline Breyer. Partners in life and art for nearly 15 years, the couple expressed their devotion through their “Creating the Pandrogyne” project, as each underwent a series of cosmetic procedures to merge their identities, becoming figures of a third gender incorporating both of their attributes. Losier followed the pair over the course of seven years, and the resulting film is intimate, whimsical, moving and riveting.
“I approach my subjects as if it were the beginning age of cinema, the time of George Méliès and the Lumiere Brothers, by creating tableau vivants- comical, colorful, recreating stories and interviews,” Losier says. “By re-enacting scenes from their own lives, what begins to emerge is a truth that far exceeds the conventions of traditional documentary filmmak¬ing. By approaching my subjects from oblique angles, my editing style functions like a colorful, incongruent tapestry; small details offering a more acute sense of the whole.”
The film won the coveted Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival. 2001, video, 75 minutes. A discussion with Losier and Genesis P-Orridge follows the screening. Ballad opens at the Landmark Lagoon on April 6.
About the Director
Marie Losier, born in France in 1972, is a filmmaker and curator working in New York City. She has shown her films and videos at museums, galleries, biennials, and festivals. She studied literature at the University of Nanterre (France) and fine art in New York City. She has made a number of film portraits on avant-garde directors, musicians, and composers such as Mike and George Kuchar, Guy Maddin, Richard Foreman, Tony Con¬rad, and Genesis P-Orridge. Whimsical, poetic, dreamlike, and unconventional, her films explore the life and work of these artists.
The Premieres series is made possible by generous support from Elizabeth Redleaf.