Avant-Drag!

An interesting documentary about the world of drag artists in Athens, Greece, written by Foivos Dousos and directed by Fil Ieropoulos.

Through interviews with a group of Athenian drug performers and narration by Marisha Triantafyllidou, this feature takes the viewer on a journey into the drag universe, revealing what it is like being that sort of person in Athens.

Basically, the film is separated into chapters, each of which is dedicated to an artist (and one to two artists) and one after the other, these individuals are interviewed and the crew follows them around whether it is on the streets of Athens or in their home as they do their usual activities such as shopping and creating their personal art. All the interviewees appear all dressed up, with elaborate makeup, clothing, wigs and accessories, making them look similar, yet simultaneously different. Regarding appearance, perhaps the one who stands out the most is Thanasis McMorait whose alias is The Wounded Insurgency, whose clothing appears to represent suffering from physical brutality. Each performer has an alias and each has their own short video in grainy footage, where they have the opportunity to express themselves through their art.

It should be mentioned that there is explicit content throughout the film, primarily of a sexual or violent nature and some viewers might be offended.

The creativity of Angelos Charalambous for the animation during the credits is another aspect that should be pointed out.

The documentary paints an informative picture of the Athenian drag world and the ideas of self-expression and being who one wants to be are promoted in this film. From another perspective, issues in Greece regarding transphobia are also brought to light and so is police brutality, with the feature mentioning the deaths of Zak Kostopoulos, Alexis Grigoropoulos and Michalis Kaltezas.

This is an informative and dramatic viewing. Viewers will get an undestanding of the world of drag in Greece and will discover that although the number of drag perfomers appears to be increasing in that country, they are facing significant oppression.