Matt Fillmore’s
Body Dialectic
looks to expand viewers perception of identity and gendered embodiment through the life story of someone with first-hand experience.
Transgender performance artist Kris Grey/Justin Credible wrote, produced and performed the film and lecture about the life experience of not identifying as male or female.
Director Matt Fillmore has received success in local film festivals, as it has already premiered at the Milwaukee LGBT Film Festival and the Outrageous: Santa Barbara LGBT Film Festival this year, to name a few.
“It’s been great to see such a positive response from so many film festivals,” Fillmore said. “It’s nice to see my work shown in theaters across the country. Even when I can’t make the trip to the festival, I still enjoy sitting at home knowing that my film is being played in a theater across the country.”
Grey, who graduated with an MFA at Ohio University in Ceramics in 2012, currently resides in N.Y.C., but the short film explores his time here at OU, particularly when he was performing his final projects here.
“I was very active on campus producing my work, performing, doing direct activism and advocating for trans students on campus,” Grey said. “Matt filmed me delivering lectures, working in my studio, and making performance. It was a great asset to me to be able to document my work from that year.”
Above all else, Fillmore hopes that his film stays true to Kris as a person and artist, and gives a positive message to those in the LGBT community.
“When I started this film, my goal was (to) make a documentary with a positive representation of trans-issues,” Fillmore said. “In the film, I try to stay true to Kris as a person and let him tell their story. What came out was a positive narrative of a person truly comfortable with themselves and the journey they took.”
Grey agrees that the film is well-done, and is glad to see it gain so much success of late.
“I think the film is beautifully shot,” Grey said. “Matt is an excellent cinematographer. I’m pleased with the way my personal narrative is woven with the arc of my visual and performance work.”
Above all else, however, Grey hopes audience members who see this film take away a few key points.
“The salient points are that there are many more that just two options for gender,” Grey said. “By disrupting one system of power we might also demonstrate how other systems broken down along false binaries can be reconfigured. The goal is social justice and it’s one that I’ve dedicated my life to.”
Jenny Roberts, a photography assistant on the film as well as a 2013 OU MFA School of Film graduate, knew that the film was going to be popular and is extremely glad to see the success the film has had.
“The first time I saw a cut of the film I knew Matt had something special. Kris/Justin is such an exceptional person and a charismatic speaker,” Roberts said. “I think it's the perfect film for someone who doesn't understand trans issues because Justin expresses so perfectly how essential it was to make this change by sharing a personal story and struggle of transformation and becoming.”
Like Grey and Fillmore, however, she hopes audience members take away the importance of transgender equality and looking beyond simple definitions of gender.
“I hope those who haven't been exposed to it end up seeing the film so they are able to look beyond a simplistic gender model and have an appreciation and acceptance for a more complex self-identifying process,” Roberts said.
@thewillofash
wa054010@ohiou.edu
