“A Friend of Dorothy” delves into the intricate relationship between queerness, melancholy, and utopianism. This exploration is centralised within my rural childhood on a farm in the east of The Netherlands. ”Act normal, and then you act crazy enough’’ is the mentality rooted in this normative tiny village. For me, it translates as no space to be different. The project unveils my profound need to leave and my nostalgic desire to return. The farm is my utopia from the past. Creating a tension that results in my queer melancholic longing.

 

The base of this project is my struggle against what I perceive as the retrograding emancipation of queerness. This urgency serves as a resounding call for action. Within this context, I believe the key could be Queer Utopian Memory. Where queer past, present and future intertwine and dissolve out of the linear construct of time, creating a vision of the future that is not limited by the constraints of the present.

 

Situated on my family farm, this film serves as a poetic translation representing the queer melancholia, leaving the farm, embracing myself into a transitional zone and stepping out of the binary that I feel holds queer possibilities at a standstill. Encapsulating the traces of rural village life, hardship and the tender embrace of home. Weaving together my dreams, memories, pasts, presents, angers, loves, and futures, exploring the yearning for a reality that transcends the confines of normativity.