SPLIT is a documentary portrait of legendary and surreal New York drag queen International Chrysis, one of Salvador Dali's inner circle, a pioneer of gender fluidity, a woman from the waist up, a man from the waist down. Through her film, Broadway, cabaret performances and interviews with her friends, we see her hidden world, a dark world she lights up with humor, wit and glamour.
Directed by Ellen Fisher Turk and Andrew Weeks
Written by Dan Chayefsky
Running time 60 minutes, color
Berlin Film Festival 2019,
Panorama 40
Berlin Film Festival 1993, Special Jury Award
““Split” is a surprisingly unsentimental celebration of a life that was as much a self-creation as it was a product of the times.”
“.. a dizzying story and a moving one.”
“…world-famous heroine of the underground, dead at 39, from drugs or breast implants… subject of Week’s and Turk’s fascinating short movie called “SPLIT”.”
“Underground fame, in the late 1970’s, Salvador Dali’s friend and frequent escort. Chrysis lived a life of extremes. ”
“The film’s strongest point is its willingness to gaze unflinchingly at the gloomier consequences of gender anarchy without disrespecting its primary subject. ”
“What did drag queen International Chrysis (star of the) enthralling documentary. SPLIT, have besides an auburn mane, breasts…of floor wax?…Salvador Dali’s muse, Chrysis was simply amazing-a woman from the waist up, a man from the waist down…”
“Film documents performer’s great spirit…. was like a bridge out to everyone else. Chrysis was somewhere between a transsexual and a transvestite. On paper that couldn’t be defined. Turk says “Chrysis was one of the first Gender fluid people, redefining what gender actually is.”