We are moving stories

“I guess the struggle to be accepted “the way you are” affects me and maybe many people that I know, at some point. This lack of belonging, I guess, is part of everybody’s life in some moments. But, of course, to Jonathas, the main character, this struggle is on another level.”

“The F Word is a docu-series my wife and I created about our process of adopting a child through the foster care system. We made it because when we started on this journey we didn’t see it reflected anywhere, and we would have taken comfort in hearing other people’s stories, especially other queer people, so we decided to turn the camera on ourselves to fill that void. My hope is that people interested in adoption will see themselves in our story and think “ok, wow, if those two can do it, I definitely can!” Ha. No, really though. Because it’s probably true.”

“The animation community is full of queer people and queer allies, and yet we don’t have a ton of exposure in that industry so hopefully this can show that a serious queer animated film is possible.

I also hope that it specifically can strike a note in the gay asian community as coming out is still not an option for many of them. Maybe this film can be a voice for them, and maybe it’ll speak to their families as well.”

“At the heart of this film is a woman’s struggle to heal from her past and form new connections with important people in her life. I wanted to tell a story that, while dealing in part with identity issues, recognizes queer as only one part of a person’s identity and experience. I did not see enough nuanced LGBTQ stories on screen, so when I was writing a script to explore a father/daughter relationship, it made sense for the protagonist to identify as queer.

This film was conceived and produced with the guiding principle of queer and people of color representation both behind and in front of the camera. We put together a cast and crew who was largely queer-identifying, POC, and aligned with our feminist values. The culture on set was intentionally designed to create a safe, respectful space where everyone can bring their authentic selves, collaborate fully, and do their best work.”

“Being gay is a deeply personal identity trait, but in the context of the film it becomes an issue that affects the family, both in the sense that they all essentially rely on the protagonist’s queerness to survive, and yet they completely fail to accept it. You can rarely find themes where the personal doesn’t overlap with the universal. We are all connected.”

“I try to uphold the following two adages whenever I’m approaching any sort of artistic endeavor — the first is: “Universality lies in specificity”, and the second is: “Write what you know”. In a perfect world, “what you know” is hyper-specific to you as an artist, and in translating that specificity onto the page or the screen with radical honesty, you’re tapping into a universality that transcends any single demographic. Anyone watching can relate, because in the process of dramatizing your own personal truth, you forego any attempts at appealing to audiences through falsities and predictions of what they’ll enjoy.”

“Undone was inspired by my own questioning and reflections on sexuality and coming to terms with the multiplicity of my identity, but also by the stories and conversations shared with other people from the LGBTQ community. The film explores what happens when one’s sense of identity becomes “undone” and labels are no longer so easily applicable, not fitting a worldview in which binaries are the norm.”

““Anatomy of an Orchid” explores the alienation and subsequent awakening of Cassie (played by extraordinary non-binary performer Jes Tom). After an adolescence spent struggling to connect with everyone around her, she develops an intense kinship with her “pet” orchid after learning that the flower’s reproductive system contains both male and female parts. Through the use of surrealism (inspired by Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman) I wanted to whimsically examine this burgeoning inter-species friendship.”

“I believe that the film arises from my desire to tell a story about human relationships, challenging certain imaginaries we have in relation to old age. I found myself obsessed with movies with characters much older than me, but I was often bothered by the nostalgic tone with which these characters were developed, as if the power of these characters resided only in the past. In this way, one of the main desires of the film is to exalt the vitality and beauty of old bodies in the present time.”

“We wanted to take a genre and twist it in fun and unexpected ways. We also wanted to promote progressive story elements like strong female characters and same-sex romance/partnership. It’s our very tiny way of making the culture better.”

“I’ll take laughs over anything with tears a close second, but would also, if possible, like audiences to start getting used to characters being gay without that necessarily playing a part of the story. Some of the online comments on this film demand an explanation as to why the character is gay, to which the only reply can only be - for the same reason that that other character is straight. No reason. Existence without the need for legitimization. Repeat.”

“While Normativity originally stemmed from my experiences with heteronormativity (where people believe or assume that heterosexuality is the norm), I wanted to further that theme and delve into the presumptions we make about anyone who is different from ourselves or who doesn’t align with our individually or societally created norms. It is easy to isolate ourselves and prejudge others based on gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, mental health or other factors seen as taboo by some. Normativity shares daily struggles, resilience, acceptance and love of four women and asks us to redefine ‘normal’.”

“For Project Involve, we had to make a film about a social issue, and I thought cosplaying would be a good device to show the identity struggles of an LGBTQ individual. And I wanted to downplay the perceived eccentricity of the cosplay culture and the ‘difference’ of our protagonist. I wanted to tell a story where being different is still a struggle but completely normal and uncontroversial.”

“I used to try really hard to fit in. To be accepted. To not offend - not be too flamboyant or too feminine or too opinionated - and to live my life the way others expected me to. In particular, try to fall in love forever and get married. I think we cheat ourselves and our romantic partners out of a lot of opportunities when we define ourselves and our relationships based off what we think others expect of us, as opposed to what we feel and intuit. We stay in broken relationships longer than we should. We overlook glaring differences and compromise who we are in order to fit in. The film is me grappling with letting go of that false persona.”

“I think that it’s a really sweet film with lovable characters and relatable situations, but it also has some moments that are really unexpected. I wanted to immerse the audience inside the mind of someone with a very specific type of OCD... but it’s also a comedy! With magic tricks! Performed on camera! ”

“I suppose I really just want to help normalise having queer characters in media
without the plot or subplot all about how they’re queer, or struggling with being
queer/queerphobia, or being killed off, haha.”

“We (Joyce, Ayaka, and I) started making this series because as women (and as queer/POC women) we weren’t seeing anything we could relate to on TV. Our stories, as a community, were not being told. We wanted to take all of the incredible stories and moments in our lives and turn it into something we could share.”

“To me, one of the strongest aspects of this series is that it strikes a chord with all of us who are growing up single in this digital age, not just within the queer community. Finding love through dating apps in a city like New York is becoming the norm, and this series captures the essence of the pain and joy that comes with that experience.”

“The role of Juliet is played by a male actor. Can you discuss the tradition you’re working in when you decided to change sex?

That episode was interesting, in that it is traditional (male playing female), but we weren’t actually playing it that way, as it’s really a same sex relationship (current modern debate). In Shakespeare’s time, all the female roles were played by boys, who wore dresses and wigs to look female, as it was illegal to have women on the stage due to it being seen as indecent (most of the playhouses were in the Red Light districts of Elizabethan London).”

“Our film continues the tradition of the New Queer Cinema, as the film deals with dissolving traditional gender identities and notions of desire – not only by presenting characters who oppose the heteronormative, binary discourse of power, but also in terms of the filmmaking process itself: Instead of believing in hierarchy and the concept of a single genius, the vision of every individual participant from behind and in front of the camera was taken into account in order to create this multi-layered, atmospherically dense utopia.”

“The film provides a viewpoint onto some very current human rights issues in our world right now and unravels some of our perceptions of what it’s like to be Russian, refugee or queer, and does it in an emotionally compelling way.”

“When Pride Came To Town sheds light on the ongoing battle for queer rights, while at the same time being an unexpected and positive portrayal of how attitudes in rural areas might not be as conservative as some might think.

In the film, we meet 52-year old Bjørn-Tore, who fled to the big city in order to escape the everyday homophobia he experienced in his rural hometown. When the very same village is hosting Norway’s first rural Pride, Bjørn-Tore is filled with mixed emotions about returning to take part in the parade. Tension rise as a local church group organizes an anti-LGBTQ rally, just weeks before Pride.”

“I really wanted the participants to own their script and voice it. We had multiple chats on the phone in the lead-up to the filming to really understand what was important to them. Their stories formed the foundation for the conversations we had during filming and throughout the edit.”

“We want other queer people, people of color, people with disabilities, women, and any marginalized group to feel recognized in this film. We also want to shift the culture of comedy in favor of the underdog that constantly ends up being the butt of a joke.”

“Chivukula: I lived in Seattle 2013 - 2017, working at Facebook as a software engineer. As a queer/trans mixed race PoC I was an oddity at Facebook; as an upper-middle-class person I was a rarity in the queer/trans community. In each place I sought to contribute what I could to build a bridge. I founded the role of ‘Seattle Diversity Coordinator’ at Facebook to see what I could do to improve representation in tech. After a bit more than a year I burned out of that role, frustrated from my lack of lasting impact. The experience embittered me toward the corporate diversity cult: glossy marketing photos staring a rainbow coalition with nothing behind it. I’ve learned the best way to recover from a failure like that is to make art about it and thus, Pizza Roles.”