Artists Michaël Borremans and Andra Ursuta will star in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film Queer alongside actors Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey and musician Omar Apollo. The movie, which is one of the most anticipated premieres at next month’s 81st Venice International Film Festival, features Borremans and Ursuta in roles that have yet to be specified. Both artists are represented by David Zwiner.
Inspired by the 1985 novel by William S. Burroughs, Queer follows an American man named Lee (Craig) who escapes to Mexico City in the 1940s after a drug bust. There, he becomes infatuated with a younger, drug-addicted Navy soldier (Starkey). The screenplay is written by Justin Kurtzkes, reuniting with Guadagnino following their previous project, Challengers (2024).
Ursuta, originally from Salonta, Romania, moved to the United States and graduated from Columbia University with a BA in art history and visual arts in 2002. Her sculptures often explore themes of bodily transformation and misogyny. Borremans, a Belgian artist who has been represented by David Zwirner since 2001, is a painter whose works draw on 18th-century traditions in the mode of Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas. Though Borremans is a filmmaker himself, this is the first time either artist will star in a major motion picture.
Borremans and Ursuta’s participation in Queer underscores Guadagnino’s continued interest in building bridges between the worlds of film and art. Previously, he collaborated with Elizabeth Peyton, who created the posters for his 2022 dark romance Bones and All. Additionally, he referenced feminist artists such as Ana Mendieta and Gina Pane in his 2018 remake of Suspiria. (Mendieta’s estate sued the movie distributor in October 2018 over copyright infringement.)
The Venice International Film Festival runs from August 28th through September 7th.
