Teaches of Peaches
More than 20 years after the release of her iconic electroclash album Peaches still has a lot to teach us, as this rousing document proves. A portrait of a feminist icon, queer fighter and all-round who-gives-a-shit.
Festival IDFA
Location Rabozaal
Run time 120 minutes
Genre Film
Dutch premiere
Teaches of Peaches
During the tour with which Peaches—hailed in the media as 'the grandmother of electroclash'—celebrates the 20th anniversary of her iconic album The Teaches of Peaches, she enters the stage pushing a walker with squeaky wheels, and wearing a huge vulva hat and big boob slippers. The grotesque costumes, which contrast with her dark electro beats, add a cheerful exclamation mark to the explicit lyrics celebrating sexual freedom in all its forms.
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Through interviews, a treasure trove of archive footage and high-powered live performances, we discover how the Canadian kindergarten teacher Merrill Nisker grew to become a feminist icon, queer fighter and all-round who-gives-a-shit. We see her in her twenties fooling around with roommate Feist, in her 'Berlin underground fairytale' with Chilly Gonzales with whom she formed the duo The Shit, and the creation of the studio album that changed her life, including cult classics such as Fuck the Pain Away and AA XXX.A wide-ranging and candid look at what drives Peaches, and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, plus plenty of explosive and explicit stage shows.
About IDFA
IDFA strives to strengthen the international documentary climate by focusing more than ever on documentary film as an art form. This focus includes documentary films with an original visual language or structure, films that show lesser-known cultures or are filmed from a non-Western perspective, and interactive or immersive documentaries that innovate the field.