
Coming to theatres today, Friday, July 16:
NO ORDINARY MAN
Director:
Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt
World Premiere:
Toronto 2020
Select Festivals:
DOC NYC, AFI Fest, Inside Out, Calgary, Translations, Vancouver, RIDM, Atlantic, NewFest, Sofia, Sydney Mardi Gras, BFI Flare, Salem, Cleveland
About:
The legacy of musician Billy Tipton is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read:
For decades, the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the sensationalistic story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. Now that history gets re-interrogated by trans artists as they try to reimagine Tipton’s life through acts of performance, reclaiming him as a trans icon. Filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt join Tipton’s adopted son to reckon with Tipton’s complicated and contested legacy.