When we know ourselves to be something different to the available models of gender, sexuality and love, our identities often take us into unmapped territories, place us at odds with the world, and this is also our history. Jake Graf discusses the importance of short films in telling our stories in the lead up to the screening of Identity at Curzon Soho, on Thursday 6 June. Click here to buy tickets.
“It’s always been important to me to tell stories that rarely see the big screen, stories that can alter someone’s perception of themselves and change their life, sometimes just by letting them know that they’re not alone. ‘Dusk’ is one of those: the tale of a trans man born in 1950s England, into a world without information, empathy or understanding of his identity.”
“Spanning 7 decades, with a cast of 32 and shooting in 12 locations, this was an ambitious shoot and also the one that came closest to falling apart. Producers came and went, our fourth one sticking, a new record! Locations proved elusive, special licences required to shoot in public spaces and in the American Church in London, also the set for the hospital scene. All this took time as did Casting, usually a favourite of mine, but finding 6 actors to play the same character over 7 decades of their life was a huge test, as was sourcing period costume for 28 cast members.”
“We nearly lost one lead actor to better paid work on an Asda advert, and another to Hollyoaks, but both came back to ‘Dusk’. The shoot itself was thrilling, moving and exhausting, 10 hour days regularly stretching to 14. At the end of it we were left reeling from the sheer intensity, huge satisfaction at having pulled it off, then almost immediately plunging into 8 weeks of editing, sleepless nights and relentless recuts. The end product was nearly 100% over budget, and I spent months clearing debts. But 80 festivals and 30 awards later tell me that this is a story that matters, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.” Click here to watch the trailer for Dusk.
Jake is a prominent trans activist and patron of Mermaids. To find out more about Jake, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
Join Jake in a Q&A after the screening of Dusk, part of the QueerBee Identity programme of short films at Curzon Cinema Soho on Thursday 6 June. Click here for tickets.