New to VOD via iTunes this week:
IN THE TURN
Director:
Erica Tremblay
Premiere:
Seattle LGBT 2014
Select Festivals:
Inside Out, Ottawa, St Louis, FilmOut San Diego
About:
A profile of an inclusive queer roller derby team.
Tremblay’s subject is the Vagine Regime, a loose-knit intentional family of roller derby players who reside in different cities and countries. Ostensibly, the film is meant to focus on Crystal, a Canadian pre-teen MTF whose school bars her from playing in sports. After her overworked but supportive mother learns about the Vagine Regime, she shares Crystal’s story with them, inspired by their openness to queer and trans players. In practice, however, Crystal and her mom almost immediately fade into the background while Tremblay proceeds to profile one player after another – ultimately far too many characters to keep track of or invest in, including some too tangential figures. While Crystal eventually comes back into the doc for a happy, hopeful coda, the scrappy film’s overall structure remains problematic.
what (not) to doc 