Fando and Lis

Jodorowsky’s feature debut caused scandal and nearly led to the director’s deportation from Mexico. Based on Fernando Arrabal’s play, the film follows a pair of lovers – one of them disabled – on a journey to the mythical city of Tar. Set against a post-apocalyptic, surrealist backdrop, Jodorowsky explores the depths of the human subconscious, spiritual anxiety, and the social unrest of the era. Filled with brutal, provocative imagery, the film faced heavy censorship, while Jodorowsky, claiming that almost everything on screen was real, only fueled the controversy. After its disastrous reception at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the distributor Cannon Films heavily censored the work, and the director narrowly escaped a lynching. Rumors of using real blood from the lead actress and accusations of vampirism turned Fando and Lis into a cult manifesto that continues to provoke and inspire audiences to this day.

Alejandro Jodorowsky (b. 1929) is a true visionary artist – a director, actor, composer, comic book writer, performer, occultist, and psychotherapist whose work balances on the edge of dream, ritual, and madness. As a co-founder of the experimental Panic Theatre, he drew inspiration from mysticism, surrealism, and theatrical ecstasy. His films are psychedelic journeys filled with symbols and metaphysics, with Jodorowsky treating art as a tool for healing the soul. By exploring the human subconscious and defying social norms, he became an icon of counterculture and one of the most uncompromising artists of the 20th century.

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