Episode Eight: Marion Scemama

Marion Scemama’s film “Self-Portrait in 23 Rounds: A Chapter in David Wojnarowicz’s Life 1989-1991” (2018) depicts the artist and activist David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992) speaking candidly about intimacy, desire, and the use of rage in his creative processes. Scemama—a close friend of Wojnarowicz’s—weaves an affecting portrait of a man who must reckon with his impending death in a society that refused to confront the AIDS epidemic. This film is based on a 4-hour interview conducted in May 1989 by cultural theorist Sylvère Lotringer (1938–2021)—founder of Semiotext(e)—a year after Wojnarowicz was diagnosed with HIV.