Black and White

I first came across Rebecca Swan’s extraordinary book “Assume Nothing” in the window display of Unity Books in Tāmaki Makarau, Auckland. The striking cover photograph of an androgynous woman’s outstretched torso, leaning backwards over buttocks intricately tattooed with Māori ta moko drew me into the store. I sat perched there on a tiny stool until I had examined the stunning photographs and stories of alternative gender identity from cover to cover. I was immediately drawn to contact Rebecca, and to propose that we collaborate on a film, turning her stunning portraits from the book into “living” portraits in a feature-length documentary. To my delight she agreed, and the first film resulting from this collaboration, made as a Masters film student while at the University of Auckland, is the pilot documentary Black and White,  which features  one  participant  from  the book - intersex activist Mani Bruce Mitchell.

I was really struck by Rebecca’s provocative images of Mani, coupled with Mani’s frank story-telling accompanying the photographs. Mani describes being a “boy” for the first year of life, and then becoming a “girl” as the doctors re-diagnosed “her” gender identity, and then how this secret was kept from Mani until s/he discovered the truth accidentally as an adult. The events of Mani’s childhood were so hard for me to take in, and yet s/he seemed so compassionate, and so at ease as an adult. S/he was also clearly dedicated to working with others to publicise the potential traumas associated with childhood genital surgery, and the typical secrecy surrounding such medical conditions and their treatment.

     I felt that Mani’s story coupled with Rebecca’s photographs would be a powerful way to explore visually how society’s adherence to fixed beliefs about “appropriate” masculinity and femininity are not only limiting, but potentially damaging, especially to people who, like Mani, really are simply different. When I approached Mani about the possibility of making a film together, s/he struck me with an extraordinary courage and openness, and I was moved by Mani’s willingness to trust me. Mani is so warm and articulate, with a wicked sense of humour, and there is no way that s/he sees herself as a victim. So I determined to find a way to explore Mani’s story and decision to be photographed by Rebecca, in a way which looked with not merely at Mani, weaving colour, playfulness and optimism together with the painful facts of Mani’s past.

Heartfelt and candid…If you seize one voice to articulate the perils and possibilities of the in-between, it ought to be Mitchell’s testimony.
AMY VILLAREJO, DIRECTOR FEMINIST, GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES PROGRAM, CORNELL UNIVERSITY (USA).

An assured and compelling work... manages to combine real insight into a difficult life while retaining a sense of optimism, humour and community.
ANNIE GOLDSON, PHD, TRUSTEE, DOCNZ FESTIVAL (NEW ZEALAND).

BLACK AND WHITE is a rare and wonderful look into the life of an intersex person, bringing a human face to an issue most people never even think about.
MO RATEL, THE AUSTIN GAY AND LESBIAN FILM FESTIVAL (USA).

Recommended…Mitchell’s views and theorizing present a truly interesting, evocative, and empirical view on society’s learned binary view [of gender] and how we might reconsider it.
EDUCATIONAL MEDIA REVIEWS ONLINE (USA).

Three Stars. Recommended.
VIDEO LIBRARIAN (USA).

BLACK AND WHITE shines a sensitive light on a subject that is too often either shunned or sensationalized: the experiences of intersex people (sometimes called hermaphrodites). This beautiful and stylish film artfully explores the potent creative collaboration between Mani Bruce Mitchell and the acclaimed photographer Rebecca Swan...a stunning tribute to Mitchell’s courage and fierce commitment to change.
WOMEN  MAKE  MOVIES WEBSITE (USA) . 

USA Distributor: Women Make Movies www.wmm.com

BEST NEW ZEALAND SHORT DOCUMENTARY and BEST EMERGING DIRECTOR -  DOCNZ International Documentary Festival 2006(NZ);

BEST SHORT FILM - Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival 2006 (USA);

IN COMPETITION - Monterrey International Film Festival 2006 (Mexico);

IN COMPETITION - International Film Festival Etiuda & Anima, Krakow 2008 (Poland).

Selected Screenings

2008

San Diego Women’s Film Festival (USA);

Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (USA);

International Film Festival Etiuda & Anima, Krakow (Poland);

Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI) Showcase (over 15 cities internationally)

YES TV (Israel);

2007

International Museum of Women: Imagining Ourselves online exhibition;

Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (USA);

Queer Articulations - Princeton University (USA);

Women’s History Month – University of Wisconsin (USA);

Reel Identities Film Festival, Louisiana (USA);

Michigan Women's Music Film Festival (USA);

Cinema Politica Film Network, Montreal (Canada);

TLV FEST, Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival (Israel);

Athens International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Greece);

Outtakes International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (NZ);

International Festival on Gender and Sexuality – Delhi (India);

Damn These Heels Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, SLC (USA);

Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (USA);

Turin (and Bologne) International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (Italy);

Pink Apple Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Zurich (Switzerland);

Melbourne Queer Film Festival (Australia);

Reelout Film Festival, Kingston (Canada):

CineMujer Film Festival, Texas (USA);

Women Without Borders Film Festival, Milwaukee (USA);

FilmIdyll Festival, Stockholm (Sweden).

2006

DOCNZ International Film Festival (New Zealand);

Opened for Transamerica in Planet Gender Festival, Maastricht (The Netherlands);

Monterrey International Film Festival (Mexico);

Short Fuse Programme, MIC (New Zealand);

International Women’s Film Festival Dortmund I Cologne (Germany);

Hamburg International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (Germany).