Wednesday May 23, 22:00, grote zaal

Metamorphosis: The Remarkable Journey of Granny Lee

In 1989, an 81-year-old white woman died in a car accident on a highway in South Africa. A not altogether uncommon occurrence - except for the fact that the victim was in reality neither white, a woman nor eighty-one. It was Granny Lee, Johannesburg's most famous drag queen. The documentary is very much about the notion of "created identity" - how Leonard Du Plooy created a new persona, gender and even race, making the legend of Granny Lee a living, breathing reality. The documentary unravelled the mystery around Granny Lee by having Granny Lee herself narrates her life story (!)- based on an audio interview recorded shortly before her death. Combined with a vast amount of rare archive footages of gay and disco Johannesburg in the late sixties and seventies, Metamorphosis is a cheerful reconstruction of one great persona's life rather than a static epitaph. Thanks to Marc Swinges of Underdog Untertainment.
Luis Debarros, South Africa, 2001, documentary, video, 54', in English, no subtitles

Young Granny Lee/ Leonard du Plooy