We’re proud to feature our June issue’s guest editor, poet Spencer Williams, in conversation about a pair of films that hearken to our theme of trans cinema: Canadian Billy Tipton doc No Ordinary Man (Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, Canada, 2020, now streaming on Criterion Channel) and the incendiary short American Reflexxx (Alli Coates, 2015, on YouTube). We get into: why this double feature, the perils and profits of visibility, improv as queer praxis, did MoMA’s audience get it, the meta device of audition scenes, always performing, working with and against the talking heads format, glitch time, and more.
This month, we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of BW/DR! You can find all 120 issues of Bright Wall/Dark Room, including this month’s bouquet of trans cinema offerings, at brightwalldarkroom.com.
Happy Pride.
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This episode is sponsored by Galerie, a new kind of film club. Listeners may sign up for early access at https://join.galerie.com/bwdr.
No Ordinary Man official trailer:
American Reflexxx (full short film; Alli Coates, 2015)
American Reflexxx (Alli Coates, 2015)