Project Detail

Act 3

Name: Act 3
Director: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Genre: Art / Artists, LGBTQIA+, Woman Director
Duration: 83 min

Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor in Ankor Wat

John Lawlor

Synopsis

The final part of a documentary trilogy that began with 'Further Beyond' and 'TheFuture Tense', 'ACT 3' completes Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor’s exploration of ideas around identity, place and memory. Here, they delve in to their past work and creative collaboration across 40 years to explore the possibility of their future identities; and how they choose to imagine the final third of their life. Mining the intimate relationship of artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore – who are the subject of their current feature film – and taking their typically droll, existentially-inflected, meta approach, the documentary ultimately becomes a moving meditation on the meaning of life, art and love.
Official Selection Telluride Film Festival 2026
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

Details

Type of project: Features
Running time: 83 min
Format: Digital
Director: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Producer: Joe Lawlor, Alex Thiele, Hannah Patterson
Editor: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Screenwriter: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Director of Photography: Joe Lawlor
Sound: Molly Lawlor
Composer: Stephen McKeon

Genre

Art / Artists LGBTQIA+ Woman Director

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

Desperate Optimists

Joe Lawlor
Flat 20 All Nations House
2 Martello Street
London E8 3PF

65 Wilding Films Ltd

Alex Thiele
33 Malvern Road
London E8 3LP

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Two women ahead of their time, caught in the war that changed the world. Artists, surrealists, lovers, resistance fighters. Based on a true story. Jersey, World War II. Vehemently opposed to any form of oppression, Surrealist artists and lovers Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe (aka Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore) decide to mount their own resistance movement when the Germans invade. They compose notes encouraging soldiers to rise up against Nazism, then disguise themselves and disseminate the notes throughout the island. They continue their operation for 4 years, while the German Command hunt for members of a large, organised movement.

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Year: 2023

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Director: Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor

Year: 2019

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