ORGasm and Revolution

ORG was one of the most radical artistic experiments that Fernando Birri pursued. Over ten years, from 1968 to 1978, he and editor Settimio Presutto constructed a nearly three-hour film composed of over 26,000 cuts and 700 audio tracks. Loosely adapted from Thomas Mann’s 1941 novella The Transposed Heads—itself based on an Indian legend—the film tells the story of a love triangle, reimagined through the interracial relationship between two men and a woman. But ORG was far more than an adaptation: it was an intentional engagement with Wilhelm Reich’s theories of orgasm, an intersection of “Third World” cinema and underground cinema, and a manifesto for a cosmic communism that transcended national boundaries.

ORG was also an experiment in human perception: what can the eye truly register? Can a single film frame be seen? These questions fueled the film’s visual intensity. And its history was marked by conflict—the film was nearly lost to censorship attempts by its producer and lead actor, Mario Girotti, who tried to block its release.

This multiplicity extended beyond the screen. ORG generated a wide range of visual forms: a calligram by poet Rafael Alberti used for the film’s promotion; custom-designed collages made in collaboration with Regina Valletta to show a film that could vanish at any moment–and that many doubted its existence; and even a paper praxinoscope inviting viewers to cut, assemble and create their own moving images. ORG was not just a film—it was a visual tour de force, an experience that expanded cinema into many different mediums.