Faster than Light

And now, we must be brave.

A journey of challenges begins when someone exists as (s)he is. Following the work-in-process presented at Onassis Stegi in June 2018, Thomas Anthony Owen and Kentaro Kumanomido, return to Onassis Stegi with a transmedia activism project created in collaboration with members of the LGBTQI+ community of Athens, Greece and consists of an art film and live performance at Onassis Stegi Upper Stage.

The feature length film tells the story of a network of the LGBTQI+ people as they bridge multidimensional pathways for healing, justice and grief within a surreal fabric of relations, following the violent loss of Zak Kostopoulos (Zackie Oh) an HIV+ activist and drag performer, on the 21st of September 2018, in broad daylight in the city center of Athens during the course of production. What is it like for a whole community to be living comfortably in fear? How can togetherness be accomplished in a society that sees difference to be something beyond their eyes?

The visual poetry of “Faster than Light” includes a collage of personal interviews, video portraits, speculative fictions, social practices and dance to offer multiple platforms for the complexity of Zackie Oh’s story and her community’s relations to be expressed. The film is intended to facilitate the audience’s relationship to these stories of oppression, resistance and hate, on a local and global level, as a form of media activism, and as a moving portrait of modern times. The improvised video portraits move towards the empowerment and authenticity of the cast members as they navigate life, grief and resistance with complexity and beauty.

Throughout the documentary screening there is a live drag & dance performance, spotlighting queer power and h(er)stories. A performative journey along the margins of consciousness, "Faster Than Light" brings back the first artists in residence of the EMAP/EMARE platform at the Onassis Stegi in Athens.