Program Note
The Misandrists is a black comedy that allegorically and satirically captures the life of an extremist feminist group, and a queer film that embraces provocative questions surrounding sexual politics. In 1999, extreme feminist group, ‘The Female Liberation Army’ establishes its base in a remote area in Germany by posing as a boarding school. The group consisting of one leader(Big Mother), 4 teachers, and 8 students(young street girls who were exploited and abused by a patriarchal society) is secretly preparing their fight for female liberation. The group is challenged when it comes against external and internal crises(when a wounded left-wing young man drifts into their territory, and a few students experiencing identity issues), but Big Mother’s charismatic leadership guides them through their plight, and they finally set foot into the world where they have their first battle. It’s not just guns and swords, but lesbian eroticism that serve as powerful weapons against a patriarchal world. The Misandrists is a scathing satire of an ideology that comes to resemble patriarchy the believers of this ideology are fighting against. But it also makes one feel that what this film is aiming for might be something like Don Quixote’s windmill (BYUN Sung-chan)