‘Underground Orange:’ Politically Charged, Queer Film By Michael Taylor Jackson Seeks Distribution In Repressive Climate [VIDEO]

In the beguiling queer indie Underground Orange (Bajo Naranja), Yankee, a naive American backpacker, lands in Buenos Aires to kick back and have a good time, but his fun is cut short when two young thieves take his money and passport. Forced to sleep in a cemetery, next to his dead pirate hero, he awakens to a what appears to be actors playing Frido Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Turns out they’re a band of polyamorous thesps called Bajo Naranja, who live in an abandoned warehouse and are about to put on a play that condemns Henry Kissinger for his involvement in Operation Condor in the 1970s, a right- wing terror movement backed by the US.

The group want Yankee to play Kissinger and despite his not ever having heard of the infamous politico, he agrees. What follows is a coming-of-age, figuring-out-one’s-own-reality-vs. the-one-that’s-been-created -for-you story that touches on timely themes such as the rise of fascism, censorship and social injustice.

Yankee is played by American-Argentinian Michael Taylor Jackson, who also wrote and directed Underground Orange. And his ability to successfully wear all three hats is to be commended. He’s never acted before, nor did he have a desire to do so. Yet he’s a natural onscreen.

Jackson attended art school in Buenos Aires, then received an MFA in Film Directing from the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema in NYC. He previously made an award-winning short, Harlemites, and directed two music videos for Universal Music.

The filmmaker just concluded a multi-city North American theatrical tour which boasted special guest-hosted Q&As with directors like Bruce LaBruce (Hustler White), Todd Verow (Frisk), Darren Stein (Jawbreaker), and Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi), who is also executive producer of Underground Orange. 

The film is seeking distribution and Jackson and his International sales team, FeelSafe, are running into censorship issues because of the movie’s queer and political content in both Argentina and the United States, in this current repressive climate. “Because the film centers on those two things,” Jackson offers, “that has made it more difficult for us to attract a streamer.”

The Contending had a chat with Jackson about his film and the struggles he’s encountered.