Dir. Bertrand Mandico
2023, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, 104 min
French, English, and German with English Subtitles
In a barbaric fantasy sci-fi trip through time, sword-and-sorcery mythology is bent, fractured, and gender-swapped by master visionary Bertrand Mandico in his third feature epic. Six lives, six eras, and six deaths mark Conann’s poetic journey through different incarnations and lesbian loves. Guiding Conann through her many epic lives is Elina Löwensohn (Amateur, Let the Corpses Tan) as Rainer, a Cerberus of many otherworldly dimensions whose paparazzi camera sees all. The perversity of The Wild Boys and the hero’s journey of After Blue (Dirty Paradise) come together in this even greater handmade homage as Mandico ropes in influences as lush as Fellini Satyricon, The Night Porter, The Hunger, and Fassbinder’s entire oeuvre to craft a moving portrait of a warrior trying to find her place while outside of space, time, and meaning. This official selection of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Fantastic Fest, and Sitges “thrives on its own bizarre extravagance as it pushes the limits of substance and style” (Collider).
“She Is Conann is not for the faint of heart, weak of stomach, or morally pious. It plays upon the most provocative ideas imaginable—pushing the boundaries of not only sexuality, gender, and self-image, but societal norms too.” – Maggie Lovitt, Collider
“Decadent, hermetic, and gleefully hostile to realism, Bertrand Mandico’s film is the cinematic equivalent of a French Symbolist poem.” – William Repass, Slant Magazine
