Medea (dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini) i Medea (dir. Ursula Mayer)

Piero Paolo Pasolini's Medea takes place at the intersection of two worlds: the archaic kingdom of Colchis and the new reality of progressive modernisation.

Based on the Greek classic by Euripides,it tells the tale of Jason, the leader of the invincible army of Argonaut, and his quest for the Golden Fleece. Meeting the priestess of the Flees, Medea (for the first time on screen Maria Callas), Jason falls in love with her and takes her home as she sacrifices everything to be with him, including dismembering her own brother. Years later he spurns her for a new love, the young and beautiful Glauce. Medea, using her witch-craft powers, exacts a terrible revenge upon Jason leading to a terrifying climax where loyalty and betrayal are tried before the altar of human sacrifice. With his classic, haunting, cinematic beauty; capturing the mythic qualities of the original Greek play, Pasolini tackle sexuality, love and desire at the dawn of Christianity showing the people of the Mediterranean as conflict-ripe melting pot of racial and cultural diversity

The contemporary interpretation of Medea by Ursula Mayer is a modernized hyperbole of the collision of two worlds. In her attempt to reconcile past and present Mayer casts JD Samson in the role of Medea - a contemporary queer icon known from the riot grrrl band Le Tigre, and includes short documentary extracts depicting the current tensions in the Arab region. Haunting and sensual, the film is a visual and intellectual treat that incorporates cinematic imagery to pose fundamental questions about contemporary society.

The screening will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Krzysztof Czyżewski, Kuba Mikurda and Magda Szcześniak.