1981 73 --39-link--39- — --- Animal Farm Video Bodil Joensen

If you are researching the , the legal evolution of animal rights , or the biography of Bodil Joensen for academic reasons, I can provide information on those specific topics.

The 1981 "Animal Farm" video has become a cult classic, cherished by fans of Bodil Joensen's work and admirers of avant-garde cinema. Its influence can be seen in a range of artistic and cultural contexts, from music videos and film to visual art and performance.

Elias, a film archivist specializing in the avant-garde, assumed it was a lost piece of performance art. Joensen had been a notorious figure in the 1970s, a woman who lived on a farm and blurred the lines between nature and humanity in ways that made the public recoil. By 1981, she had supposedly vanished from the scene. This "73" at the end—perhaps a runtime or a reel number—felt like a final, missing piece of a puzzle. --- Animal Farm Video Bodil Joensen 1981 73 --39-LINK--39-

Her work was featured in several high-profile avant-garde and documentary projects of the era:

: The film involves actual acts of bestiality (zoophilia). If you are researching the , the legal

The material was reportedly smuggled through British Customs by a tourist in the spring of 1981 and distributed through underground networks in Soho.

The "link" wasn't a digital one. In the video, Joensen walked toward the TV and placed a hand on the glass. As she did, the image on the screen shifted to a live feed of the very field they were standing in, but from a bird's-eye view. Elias, a film archivist specializing in the avant-garde,

Despite her success, Joensen failed to make the transition to more mainstream movies when market sentiment changed. Later attempts to transition to mainstream cinema failed, leading to financial ruin. She became impoverished and could no longer care for her animals, which led to a raid for animal neglect in 1981 and brief imprisonment. She became an alcoholic and her brief notoriety as the "Queen of Bestiality" was followed by a downward spiral of alcohol abuse and prostitution. Bodil Joensen died on 3 January 1985 at the age of 40 from cirrhosis of the liver.