Frameline50: Julian

Fleur (Nina Meurisse) arrives late for the recital, brushing past Julian (Laurence Roothoft), fleeting contact that inflames passions between the Belgian women. Their white-hot affair inevitably leads to an engagement, but when friends suggest places to wed where legally they cannot marry, it inspires Fleur and Julian to embark on a performance art project to draw attention to limited LGBTQ+ marriage rights. They plan to tie the knot 22 times, one each in the countries where same-sex marriage is legal when their endeavor begins in 2017. A curveball thrown into their lives short circuits the project but magnifies Fleur and Julian’s devotion.

In her assured feature debut, Cato Kusters adapts Fleur Pierets’ memoir, laying out the couple’s actions, the life-altering challenge they face, but most of all a relationship built “for better or for worse.” The chemistry between Meurisse and Roothoft is mesmerizing, the women’s attraction palpable in this moving, true-life drama of queer activism and everlasting love.