OUT LOUD documentary about historic transgender chorus is an official selection of this year’s SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York. This festival is dedicated to the idea that “through raised awareness, expanded knowledge about diverse cultures, and the human condition as a whole, it is possible to create a better world free of violence, hate, and crime.” The festival shifted to a virtual event this year so the one-hour film OUT LOUD will be available to stream worldwide for the duration of the festival March 15-21, 2021. Ticket information: https://filmfreeway.com/SRFF21/tickets.
OUT LOUD chronicles the ups and downs of the first season of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles — the largest group of transgender and gender non-conforming people anywhere in the world who regularly sing together. Led by Lindsey Deaton, who co-founded the chorus and served as its first artistic director, these choristers, many of whom have no musical training, come together to hone their craft and find their voices individually and in harmony with each other. Singing out against the ongoing assaults on transgender rights and freedoms, the choristers profiled in OUT LOUD present portraits of courage. “We’re here to sing so that we can change hearts and minds everywhere” as Deaton explains in the film.
OUT LOUD was produced by Jill Shinefield and Gail Willumsen, Los Angeles-based documentary filmmakers with three decades experience creating non-fiction programming for PBS, Discovery, National Geographic and other outlets –work that has garnered them four Emmys, a Peabody Award, and many other accolades. “OUT LOUD is our first independent production, and it was a labor of love for us,” says Shinefield. “We were ‘embedded’ with the Trans Chorus for nearly a year, and that allowed us to capture the beautiful arc of their development as singers and performers.” Shinefield and Willumsen, who are cisgender, were inspired by the mission of the chorus: to give voice to a community too long silenced. “We knew this would be history in the making, and that it needed to be documented,” says Willumsen, who also directed and shot the film.
OUT LOUD has an original score written by a trans woman, Los Angeles-based composer Alana Jordan Balagot (who is also a member of the Trans Chorus.) Her original song “Genderfreak” is performed by the chorus in the documentary.
OUT LOUD has screened at over 20 film festivals worldwide. The award-winning film was honored with a proclamation from the City of West Hollywood in September 2020.
For more info about the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival NY 2021, please go to: https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/