Violent tendencies and good table manners are never far apart in the films of Mari Terashima. Her work often plays on the double meaning of “taste”— both a marker of refinement and class, and a violent expression of the desire to consume. From a bloodthirsty toy dog with a penchant for fine dining, to a troupe of self-mutilating, tea party-hosting aristocrats, the three films in this collection, made between 1986 and 2009, combine eccentric characters with imagery at once abject and delicious. A key cinematic voice from Japan’s subcultural underground, Terashima explores our postmodern appetites and their fine distinctions between propriety and the vulgar.

Je t'aime | 1986 | 8 min
Her Majesty the Queen’s Polyester Dog | 1994 | 37 min
Alice in the Underworld: The Dark Märchen Show!! | 2009 | 60 min

Curated by Mia Parnall in partnership with Collaborative Cataloguing Japan.

The screening will take place as part of Queer East festival 2026 on Wednesday 6 May 18:15 at Barbican Centre, London.