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.
Select Festivals: Frameline, Vancouver, Milwaukee, SF Dance, Outshine Miami
About: The story behind Bill T Jones and Arnie Zane’s titular performance piece on the devastation of AIDS.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read: Beginning in 1980s New York City, this film chronicles the love story between dancers Bill T Jones and Arnie Zane, the diverse dance company they founded, and the painful devastation of AIDS on the arts community, as told through the company’s signature performance piece D-Man in the Waters. Following a millennial dance troupe’s efforts to re-interpret the piece for their generation, directors Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz offer an engrossing examination of dance, love, and loss—and the power of art to move through pain.
About: In this fascinating story about isolation and interconnection, the filmmaker and a team of intrepid scientists set out on a wild quest to find the 52 Hertz Whale, which has spent its entire life calling out at a frequency that is different from any other whale.