Zmija

Browsing the streaming apps I subscribe to, I stopped by Belas Artes À La Carte because I was curious about a North Macedonian film screening that is available March 10-23, 2022. I read the synopses, choosing the short film Snake by theme, which addresses the discovery of homosexuality in childhood.

Directed by Andrej Volkashin, the shortfilm has a good production, but fails to get excited. A lot of time is spent on a fight between children, pre-teens, over a snake, while the main story is Mario discovering himself as gay, and who knows, trans, by hiding on the porch of a gay neighbor who is a laughingstock in the city, where men are mostly homophobic. Mario gets beaten up by his father because he was found dressed as a woman. It's that classic story of a father who doesn't admit that his son is gay, sexist, who doesn't let his mother manifest.

Borche, the effeminate neighbor who welcomes him in his room, when Mario is enchanted with the feathers and sequins, one night, when he returns to his house, he is attacked by pre-teens with stones, punches and kicks. Mario is in the middle, but when he runs away with his friends, he decides to stop, returning to help Borche. When least expected, the short ends.