It was a great voice on this radio station, where she shared her love of French songs on air, and in the hallways her passion for Arabic-Andalusian music and silent cinema… “Hélène transnational sore” by Judith Abitbol. But she was also a colorful LGBTQ activist, from FHAR, the Homosexual Front of Revolutionary Action, and the Gazolines to Act Up. And the first transgender woman to be admitted to a major national newspaper and to work for national television and radio. And so much more. She was a great lady – it would make her laugh to be called that way – it’s Hélène Hazera, and for Judith Abitbol, she is a friend, whose portrait she draws in a documentary that will be released next Wednesday: “Hélène transnational sore”, whose form reflects the irreducible personality of her subject. “The biggest challenge of the film,” emphasizes Judith Abitbol, “was not to fit all the facets of Hélène Hazera together but to put Hélène together with herself. Because Hélène is a flow, a permanent flow. It didn’t matter much whether I had a ready camera to shoot or not. I had to adapt to her availability, her mood, her desires. This is the most unrecognizable film to me in my filmography: there are poorly framed, unfocused moments, because Hélène didn’t care: she spoke, and spoke. To film Hélène, you would have to be Frédéric Wiseman: set up a camera and let it run all the time, because in her presence, it’s almost always fascinating.”
And finally, the Taiwanese Film Festival, which you don’t want to miss, at the Filmothèque du Quartier Latin in Paris, from April 1st to 10th.
