Screening: 'The Last Tender' & 'Zágon'

About

Zágon, dir. Mateo Villanueva Brandt [21 mins, 2020]

RTS Student Television Awards 2021 winner Zágon was described by the competition’s judges as ‘brilliant, beautiful, clever, incredibly positive. Very unusual yet very successful way of telling this story. The way the art form intertwined was captivating’

Shaped by his early life experiences of Nazi occupation and Soviet communism, Vincent Zágon continues to experience his liberation as a refugee in Britain with enduring purpose. Although 78 years old, he continues to draw, paint, write, act, dance and take his clothes off. These actions bring Vincent happiness and respite but nevertheless some difficulties persist. As an older homosexual man Vincent struggles with sexual frustration, his Christian faith, the potential oversight of his legacy and all whilst remaining the principal carer for his adult son, with whom he lives. In this intimate portrait, Vincent appears to find solace, but is his liberation married to a deeper dissatisfaction?

The Last Tender, dir. Lucia Coppola [64 mins; 2021]

As the first wave of covid-19 begins to spread across the globe, filmmaker Lucia Coppola travels on a cruise for one month around Asia and the Middle East accompanied by Harry Plomer. The Last Tender follows Plomer as he navigates the highs and lows of the holiday, interjected with the experiences of fellow cruisers through interviews, anecdotes and activities.

Everything seems to be going to plan until the holidaymakers are informed that the Sri Lankan authorities have closed off their borders to all cruise ships.

In spite of the ever-encroaching threat of this new contagious disease, the cruise continues on its course. There is a growing feeling that this may be the last party for some time. The entertainment continues constantly, everyone is trying to have fun whilst they still can. The cruise ship becomes a sanctuary shielding the revellers from the increasing shadow of the reality of what is approaching on land.

Comical and existential, The Last Tender asks the question ‘whats-it-all-for?’. Its style is both observational and performative: viscerally capturing the mood of the unique experience.

Mateo Villanueva Brandt is a documentary filmmaker from London and the co-founder of Foreign Body Productions, a community driven documentary production company.

Lucia Coppola is an artist filmmaker and performer based in London.