Part 2

The first American film to receive the Teddy Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, Open presents the new forms of love and sex emerging at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Partially based on the life and work of Genesis and Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, Open follows a love triangle between a pandrogynous couple and a young intersexed person, with that of a transman and queer man’s budding relationship. Starring real trans, intersexed, and queer actors, and featuring an original score by the Detroit based group ADULT, Open emotionally showcases the expanding possibilities for humanity.

Jake Yuzna earned a BFA in filmmaking after being removed from a Minnesota state-run arts high school. While in college, Yuzna held a number of jobs ranging from film/video curator, extras casting on Robert Altman’s final film, as well as lighting and camera work on pornographic videos. Drawing from these experiences, Yuzna directed a series of short films for which he was awarded fellowships in filmmaking from the Jerome Hill Foundation, the Frameline Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Philanthrofund Foundation, Creative Time, as well as receiving a Special Jury prize in Artistic Risktaking from IFP. His first feature film, Open, became the first American film to receive the Teddy Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, and went on to garner additional awards including Best Narrative Feature at TLVFest in Tel Aviv, and Best Performance at NewFest. Yuzna currently lives and works in NYC.