Cruising in High Heels is a film about two apocalyptic sissies between Bogota, Berlin and Cartagena. One is a dancer, the other a filmmaker. What starts as a documentary about a dancer, transforms slowly into a performance for film. The performances they create play with the in-between, male female, and the appropriation of spaces and expectations projected onto them. Jair says to Simon: “Look, my friend Victoria Beckham, when she has the flu, she puts on high heels, puts make-up on, makes herself look amazing and the flu goes away. This is achieving such self-knowledge that a flu goes away with lipstick and high heels.”

In the last 10 years, Simon(e) Paetau has produced an impressive string of films and theater performances exploring the gray areas of identity and history. The work is complex and experimental, often forcing audiences to confront the boundaries of the self, postcolonial theory, and heteronormative constructs. In ‘Cruising in High Heels’, two queer artists challenge the expectations society has forced upon them (…).
Inteligencia / These Latinx are changing Berlin’s artistic scene and proudly putting their culture on display in the German capital. / 30.07.2018

Selection of Festivals, Exhibitions & Awards

TRANSlations 2023, Artist Spotlight Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau
Queer Week Maxim Gorki Theater – Studio Я 2018
Ciclo Rosa – Bogota LGBTQ Film Festival 2015
neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK), Exhibition

Credits

Direction and Camera by: SIMON(E) JAIKIRIUMA PAETAU | Cast: JAO MOON, SIMON(E) JAIKIRIUMA PAETAU, DIETER RITA SCHOLL, BISHOP BLACK, LIESCHEN MÜLLER, SANTIAGO GÓMEZ, CRISMAN FERREIRA, HOLGER MEIER | Art Director/Costumes: MICHI MUCHINA | Dramaturgy: FRIEDERIKE HIRZ | Editing: JUAN SOTO | Sound: JULIA MARETTO | Sound Design: JOHANNES PETER | Sound Mix: JUDITH NORDBROCK |  Music: JAQEE, CERO 39, THE MAGIC LANTERN, SHAUN J. WRIGHT FEAT. ALINKA, LIONZA | Producer: KRISTINA KONRAD | Production Assistants: Alexandra Koknat, Tahis Cardoña | Graphic Design: CARLOS CABRICES | Foley: PETER ROIGK |  Grading: FABIANA CARDALDA | Mastering: MARTIN BACKHAUS | A production by: ACADEMY OF MEDIA ARTS COLOGNE (KHM) & WELTFILM BERLIN

Reviews

With humor, modesty, and finesse, Simon(e) Jaikiriuma Paetau addresses the delicate subject of identity in all its forms. His performative film ‘Cruising in High Heels’ (2015) follows the journeys of two ‘apocalyptic sissies’ between Cartagena, Bogotá, and Berlin.
Manifesto.XXI / Cruising in High Heels. Dancing the freedom of queer identities / 09.05.2017