Can love also become a weapon? In Amor Rojo, Dora García uses the historical figure of Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952), a Marxist theorist and Soviet revolutionary, radical feminist, and sex activist, as a guide to walk the labyrinth of female freedom and sexual emancipation.

In the first film, Love with Obstacles (2020), Kollontai’s personal archive became the starting point for filmic reflections that continued in If I Could Wish for Something (2021), which documented the recent surge in feminist demonstrations across Mexico. For this third film, Dora García collaborated with three young Mexican researchers (Olga Rodríguez, Carla Lamoyi, Paloma Contreras Lomas) and Mexican historian and author Rina Ortiz.

Amor Rojo borrows its title from Kollontai’s best-known work of fiction and presents a complex narrative crossing continents and an entire century. Geographically, the project moves between Moscow, Kollontai’s revolutionary birthplace and site of her official archives, and Mexico City, where she was Soviet ambassador from 1926-27 (this coincided with the aftermath of the Mexican revolution in which the women’s movement played a pivotal role). Juxtaposing the 1920s with today, Amor Rojo probes a historical throughline between the revolutionary demands of early 20th century Marxist feminism and today’s trans-led feminist struggle that intersects with the call to dismantle colonial power structures.

Amor Rojo is part of Rituals of Speaking, a film-led series that explores how artists represent the voices of others through collective storytelling. Revolution, fulfill your promise!, the first chapter of Dora García’s project on the legacy of Kollontai, is part of First Person, Third Person, Same Person, Amant’s inaugural film-based series, charting artistic methods of giving historical figures a voice in the present.

Images: Amor Rojo (video stills), 2022. Courtesy of Dora García.