*Please note we are reaching out to correct the spelling of Aisling's last name
GLAAD - JULY 15: “In "No Ordinary Man" trans men reflect on the life of jazz musician Billy Tipton, reclaiming his place in trans history” by Alex Schmider
WEEKEND WARRIOR - JULY 16: “The Weekend Warrior July 16, 2021 - SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY, ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS, PIG, ROADRUNNER, GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE, and More!” by Staff
Billie Tipton was a talented pianist, bandleader and arranger, a well-known musician in jazz circles throughout the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. He was also trans, a fact that didn’t become public knowledge (and was a surprise to some family members and friends) until after his death in 1989. Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s documentary charts Tipton’s life and work, while adding in some extra elements involving modern-day trans artists to compare experiences and contrast the differences between then and now.
My personal highlight was the historical biographical documentary, No Ordinary Man, about trans jazz musician Billy Tipton. Like Disclosure before it, it shows once again how American trans storytelling is strides ahead of what we are accomplishing over here in Europe, both in scale and quality. I found the final section of Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee’s Tipton documentary particularly moving, wherein the talking heads (all trans) share what they would ask Tipton if he was still alive today. I couldn’t help imagining how our own conversation might go. I’d have to start by asking him about fatherhood, a privilege I sensed he held as protectively and tenderly as I do.
A documentary by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt. Streaming on VIFF Connect from Friday (April 9) to May 6. There’s a lot of talk about the importance of representation on screen, but No Ordinary Man sets out to vividly capture the emotional impact of recognizing aspects of one’s own story in the life of another.
Who was Billy Tipton really? Documentary filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt had the great idea to tell her little-known story by giving voice to trans actors and experts. Assigned woman at birth, this jazz musician has led his public and private life as a man, without anyone knowing his secret (not even his wife or children!). More than 30 years after his death, he remains a model for the trans community, to the delight of his son Billy Jr, whose testimony is particularly moving. In theaters and at F3M.ca
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) and Parabola Films are pleased to announce that UN VRAI GENTLEMAN (NO ORDINARY MAN) by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt will be showing on April 2, 2021 at the Cinémathèque Québécoise and at the Cinema of the Museum in Montreal. The feature film will also be available on the Films du 3 Mars platform and regular video-on-demand platforms on the same day.
A modern-day look at past discussions on gender and sexuality is offered through the documentary “No Ordinary Man.” The film centers on transmasculine jazz musician and bandleader Billy Tipton, who was assigned female at birth. Tipton, who died in 1989, was later outed as a transgender man through problematic media portrayals -- but now, decades later, the musician is celebrated as an icon in LGBTQ communities.
POV Magazine’s Dina Lobo talks to filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt about the making No Ordinary Man, their innovative take on the late jazz artist and trans man Billy Tipton.
“We’re not working with a container of a true archive, but rather we are thinking more expansively about what it means to find people in history and performing them in the present,” says Joynt. “I think too, if we look at the history of documentaries with trans and nonconforming subjects, so often it’s on a single person or an exemplary case, but we were thinking collectively and collaboratively with the idea of community at the centre.”
Oscilloscope Laboratories has secured U.S. rights to Aisling Chin-Yee’s and Chase Joynt’s “No Ordinary Man,” a documentary about a misunderstood transmasculine trailblazer. “We are thrilled to join the team at O-Scope and can’t wait for audiences to spend time with these extraordinary stories,” Chin-Yee and Joynt said about their film’s acquisition. “Tipton’s life and death offer us myriad ways to think about the power of gender, race, family, and media in shaping trans lives both in the past and in the future. There couldn’t be a better time to continue these conversations in the U.S.” “No Ordinary Man” will be released later this year.
The deal for No Ordinary Man was negotiated by Mimi Steinbauer and Andrew Neel of Radiant Films International, who acquired the documentary after its world premiere at TIFF 2020. Radiant is handling worldwide sales on the Canada’s Top Ten pick. Oscilloscope Laboratories plans to release No Ordinary Man later this year.
New York-based Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the U.S. rights to Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man, a look at the life of the late jazz musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. The deal was negotiated by Mimi Steinbauer and Andrew Neel of Radiant Films International, who acquired the documentary after its world premiere at TIFF. Radiant is handling worldwide sales on the film, which was recently screened at the European Film Market (EFM) Online.
Along with his son, Billy Tipton, Jr. and several members of the trans community, the filmmakers have put together a documentary called No Ordinary Man to celebrate Billy’s life and career. It was released this week, to coincide with the Transgender Day of Visibility (which was March 31st). No Ordinary Man opened in select theatres on April 2nd, 2021 and is available to rent and view online.
Presented in Montreal only. Directed by Chase Joynt , Aisling Chin-Yee.
Billy Tipton is an American jazz musician who began his career around the 1930s. For decades, he made a living from his art and raised his children with his wife. When he died in 1989, his hidden trans identity came to light and created a stir in the media. In 2019, a production team is preparing a documentary about this man and his legacy for the transgender community.
Everything new to VOD and streaming for the weekend of April 2, including reviews of Concrete Cowboy, No Ordinary Man and Godzilla Vs. Kong. No Ordinary Man opens Friday (April 2) at digital TIFF Bell Lightbox. (Re-ran review) NNNN
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) and Parabola Films announce that "A True Gentleman" ("No Ordinary Man") by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt will be showing on April 2, 2021 at the Cinémathèque Québécoise and at the Cinema of the Museum in Montreal. The feature will also be available on the Films du 3 Mars platform and regular video-on-demand platforms on the same day.
No Ordinary Man, the documentary about legendary trans musician Billy Tipton, has secured US distribution from Oscilloscope Laboratories. The film, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt features trans artists showcasing Tipton’s story, including Marquise Vilsón, Scott Turner Schofield, Susan Stryker, C. Riley Snorton, and Thomas Page McBee.
The news of the acquisition of No Ordinary Man comes at an appropriate time as March 31 was Trans Day of Visibility. The docu spotlights American Jazz musician Billy Tipton, whose life was often framed as the story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. In No Ordinary Man, Tipton’s story is reimagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero. The film features breakout stars in the trans community, including Marquise Vilsón, Scott Turner Schofield, Susan Stryker, C. Riley Snorton, and Thomas Page McBee, among others.
This week’s release is The Rest of Us starring Heather Graham. The film is the feature debut of director Aisling Chin-Yee, whose doc No Ordinary Man hits general release this week.
One of the best films — queer, Canadian or otherwise — to screen on last year's largely digital film festival circuit, No Ordinary Man essentially reimagines Tipton's narrative through a diverse group of contemporary trans performers and experts.
No Ordinary Man does a superb job at sharing the complexity of Billy’s complicated and daring life while also spotlighting his remarkable talents as a musician, but this film isn’t just about Billy. The doc thoughtfully weaves in bits an pieces of stories and struggles shared by dozens of transgender artists, providing a picture of the challenges that remain today.
Most biographical documentaries on artists are linear narratives that unravel past glories and the legacy they left behind. But No Ordinary Man, which tells the story of American jazz pianist and trans man Billy Tipton, is no ordinary music documentary. In it, co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt bring contemporary relevance by foregrounding present-day trans masculine voices. The scripts, written by Chin-Yee and Amos Mac, became the language that embodied Tipton and the way in which the documentary was able to assert less and instead ask the questions that needed to be asked.
No Ordinary Man is in release on VOD and all digital platforms as of April 2.
No Ordinary Man, a documentary by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, explored Tipton's life and work, and his status as a trans icon, a status too long dismissed and buried by a society that refused to accept that he was a he. No Ordinary Man is aptly named, but could also be called 'No Ordinary People'; knowing how much transgender people still have to struggle to be recognized, we can also take joy in hearing their voices made central to this story, and having Tipton's story be told, finally, as it should.
Did you miss the chance to see the groundbreaking documentary exploring trans icon Billy Tipton during festival season? Enter for a chance to win an Apple Code to watch the award-winning film, NO ORDINARY MAN! Co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, NO ORDINARY MAN explores the life and legacy of American jazz musician and trans icon, Billy Tipton. This festival favourite will be available in Canada on all VOD and digital platforms, starting April 2, 2021!
No Ordinary Man is trans history, one many of us assumed we would never get to see and some feared did not even exist. It is also a meta narrative in more than one way, which sounds dubious but is magnificently executed. There is a lot going on and yet the documentary retains room to breathe, and to exhale in disbelief and sigh with feelings of collective grief for our hidden elders. Then, just when you think both you and the film are spent, in comes the inscrutable Billy Jr, who held his father as he died from treatable illnesses. This is a devastating and mighty documentary. It offers us – trans or cis – vital lessons about our past and reassures us of entirely different and hopeful ways forward.
His complicated story is told smoothly and conceptually by Canadian filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt who use trans actors to express nuanced thoughts on Tipton and identity. Tender, topical and well-crafted, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary film. No Ordinary Man is available on-demand, including the digital TIFF Lightbox, starting April 2.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s collaborative documentary No Ordinary Man tells the story of trans masculine jazz musician Billy Tipton. Told through a mix of archival footage, the first-hand perspective of Tipton’s child, the insights of trans people living today, and recordings of trans men auditioning to play Tipton in a film, No Ordinary Man is an eclectic and compelling documentary. Whilst No Ordinary Man is about the struggle of acceptance and the historical discrimination Tipton, his family and the wider trans/LGBTQ+ community, it is equally about the positive side of history, and a celebration of what can happen next.
More than a biography of Tipton’s life, the film is a conversation on the reality of his story and the way its portrayal in popular media reflects on the societal perception of transgender people. The film calls for continued representation of LGBTQ+ individuals in media, arguing that positive representation builds acceptance and establishes identities as legitimate. In covering Tipton’s story, “No Ordinary Man” also works against erasure of queer and gender non-conforming people throughout history, a form of representation that is just as essential for working past justification and toward celebration of queer existence. “No Ordinary Man” is both the heartbreaking story of a man who was utterly disrespected in his death by media sensationalism and the combatting perspective that failed to be recognized in its time. The film shows us how far we’ve come as a culture in just 30 years while expressing how important it is that we keep moving forward.
One of the chief values of the BFI's Flare festival is in self-education: doing better to understand our peers and gain new perspectives on their lived experience. It’s always enlightening, for this writer at least, to explore a new angle on the present day: in the case of this excellent new film, it's a past where the language to describe trans identity simply didn’t exist. No Ordinary Man, a sensitive and vital documentary about a story from the recent past, brings our current and fractious ‘debate’ around trans lives into sharp relief. Towards the documentary's end, there’s a moving sequence in which the interviewees relate what they would ask Billy if they had the opportunity. It’s joyful and moving, and Chin-Yee’s slow and meditative editing allows us to sit with these emotional stories. Through a sincere interest in the testimony of those who follow in his footsteps, No Ordinary Man pays tribute to a man who was just that - a musician, a father and a trailblazer.
Billy Tipton is a trans legend, but he was never meant to be. Although he was a famous jazz pianist, he was a private family man adopting three children with his wife Kitty. It wasn’t his life that put him in the media spotlight, but his death. When Tipton died, people discovered that he had the body of a woman. No Ordinary Man is an intriguing documentary that looks less at Tipton’s life, and more at how people reacted to his death in 1989. But perhaps because we know so little Tipton remains a hero for our times, and the fact that he was a jazz artist chimes with today’s generation of trans people. Jazz, unlike other musical genres, allows for improvisation, a liberation for those who want to fashion new selves.
Bringing a person’s existence to life is a tough thing even in the best of circumstances. When you are talking about telling the tale of a trans male jazz musician working in the United States in the 1940s and 50s then it is a big ask. But Canadian directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt are up to the task presenting the story of Billy Tipton’s life in an intimate and respectful way.Combined with the typical style of a biographical documentary is the cool flair of also showing the auditions for actors to play Billy Tipton. Very interesting wrinkle. Adds depth and perspective to the already very touching story. Knowing how his story has affected/influenced today’s trans community.
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) and Parabola Films announce that Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt's “A True Gentleman (No Ordinary Man)” will be showing on April 2, 2021 at the Cinémathèque québécoise and at the Cinema du Musée to Montreal. The feature will also be available on the Films du 3 Mars platform and regular video-on-demand platforms on the same day.
A key theme emerging from this year’s programme is the representation of prominent individuals and communities who have had an impact on Queer past and present. BFI strives to celebrate and elevate individuals who accomplishments are less well known but deserve to be championed. There will be highlights to celebrate icons like Gloria Allen and Billy Tipton which are presented in titles such as ‘Mama Gloria’ and ‘No Ordinary Man’.
Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt have done the legend of Billy Tipton proud. Energised by a stellar cast of diverse trans masculine talent who audition in a blind casting for the role of Billy, they illuminate the struggle such pioneers faced transitioning alone with few, if any, resources in the mid-20th century.
This original documentary also brings trans historians and musicologists into the mix as well as archival footage and rare interviews with Billy’s family.
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) and Parabola Films are pleased to announce that UN VRAI GENTLEMAN (NO ORDINARY MAN) by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt will be showing on April 2, 2021 at the Cinémathèque Québécoise and at the Cinema of the Museum in Montreal. The feature film will also be available on the Films du 3 Mars platform and regular video-on-demand platforms on the same day.
The 14th annual Salem Film Festival, like all festivals during the pandemic, is going virtual. If you’re a doc jock (someone who loves documentaries), this is your jam – all docs all the time, both big (features) and small (shorts), with panels and filmmaker appearances. The fest begins Friday and runs through March 28. Highlights include “No Ordinary Man,” Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s trans-empowering chronicle of Jazz musician Billy Tipton
Top Picks of the 2021 Brisbane Queer Film Festival include:
No Ordinary Man
For decades, the life of American Jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. In No Ordinary Man, Tipton’s story is re-imagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero. Together, the filmmakers join Tipton’s son Billy Jr. to reckon with a complicated and contested legacy: how do you tell the story of someone who was hiding in plain sight yet desperate to be seen?
The extraordinary life and career of American jazz musician and transgender icon Billy Tipton.Tipton's story is re-imagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero. Together, the filmmakers join Tipton’s son, Billy Jr., to reckon with a complicated and contested legacy.
Salem Film Fest (SFF) has brought the world's best independent documentaries and their makers to Boston's North Shore. Now the largest International documentary film festival in Massachusetts, the event annually presents more than 80 features and shorts to a loyal audience of thousands. The festival is run largely by volunteers through a non-profit entity, Salem Community Arts Center, Inc. and takes place at venues in Salem, Beverly and Peabody, Massachusetts.
No Ordinary Man
84 minutes | USA via Canada | 2020
The extraordinary life and career of jazz musician and transgender icon Billy Tipton is re-imagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero.
Massimadi Festival 2021, presented online by the Massimadi Foundation from February 12 to March 12, 2021.
We also mention in passing the most recent documentary by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, No Ordinary Man(2020), which traces the legacy of trans musician Billy Tipton and discusses similar issues. Like these works, several films in Massimadi's program show that the link and the community are sometimes formed in an improbable and unexpected way, in places and times when they were not expected, hence the random, diverse and surprising queer inheritance.
Only one film has been announced for the 2021 festival so far: “No Ordinary Man,” a documentary about the mid-20th century jazz pianist Billy Tipton, who was outed as trans after his death in 1989. The film brings a fresh perspective to Tipton’s life story, demonstrating how he was demonized, misgendered and misunderstood in the media following his death.
A year on from lockdown 1, the BFI launch their most accessible Flare Festival ever. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, 2 March at 11:00 GMT; here's our picks from the programme.
No Ordinary Man
With so many creative practitioners now combing archives in search of alternative histories, it feels like a wave of untold stories is just beginning. No Ordinary Man is a documentary portrait of jazz musician Billy Tipton, whose gender history as a trans man was only uncovered after his death. Along with archival footage and interviews, the film features a range of trans masculine actors playing Tipton.
NOW Magazine - Norman Wilner & Radheyan Simonpillai
February 26, 2021
Kingston Canadian Film Festival
Celebrate the world premieres of Paul Bellini and Scott Thompson’s Mouth Congress and Ryan Noth’s Drifting Snow, or catch up to fest-circuit hits like Kazik Radwanski’s Anne At 13,000 Ft., Tracey Deer’s Beans, Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby and Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man, all with filmmaker Q&As. Or watch everything. That’s an option!
“As trans creators and people interested in music and history, we have all become accustomed to one particular version of Tipton’s story. So, as a team, we were really excited to tell the underexplored and untold story about Tipton’s life, and more importantly, the lives of those who[m] he potentially impacted,” co-director Joynt said in an interview with The Journal.
The documentary is slated to premiere on March 1 at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, which kicks off on Feb. 26.
A hit on the fall festival circuit and rightly so, Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man is a ground-breaking Canadian doc. It’s arguably the most trans-inclusive film ever made in this country as it invites a chorus of transgender artists to reflect upon the life and legacy of jazz musician Billy Tipton. The doc corrects the story about Tipton’s trailblazing life through the words of those who followed his path. “The thoughtful collaboration beautifully expresses the importance of considering the duties and responsibilities entailed within telling a story that is not one’s own,” wrote Pat Mullen back at TIFF. “Ironically, No Ordinary Man straightens out the past by queering Tipton’s story.”
Although the KCFF contains a handful of promising world premieres that I can’t yet vouch for – the lineup is stacked with excellent films that audiences likely missed during their film-fest-circuit premieres last fall. Quick highlights include Tracey Deer’s coming-of-age drama Beans, the acclaimed music-world documentary No Ordinary Man, the dark comedy Shiva Baby, the visual-art documentary The Paper Man and the drama You Will Remember Me.
Each film will include post-screening Q&As to replicate the festival experience. Certain films will be only available to audiences in Ontario, but others will be available across the country.
The fascinating story of pioneering trans jazz musician Billy Tipton is brought thrillingly to life in NO ORDINARY MAN (Dirs. Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt), a celebratory documentary portrait. Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s NO ORDINARY MAN will also screen in the BODIES strand.
UN VRAI GENTLEMAN est une plongée dans la vie du musicien de jazz et icône de la culture trans Billy Tipton. Complexe et magnifique, ce film novateur met en lumière une communauté qui vibre à l’unisson afin d’honorer l’héritage de ce héros improbable.
Highlights among the expanded LGBTQIA+ program at the Oxford Film festival this year are: ... and Aisling Chin-yee and Chase Koynt’s No Ordinary Man, which looks at the legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th Century American jazz musician and trans icon.
The list of docs includes several favourites from the festival circuit including the portrait of trans musician Billy Tipton, No Ordinary Man, and the portrait of Quebecois artist and children’s TV icon Claude Lafortune, The Paper Man.
The posthumous portrait of trans jazz musician Billy Tipton, No Ordinary Man, will also be screening at the fest after winning the award for Best Canadian Film at Inside Out.
One of the genres that stood out to Salton this year more than most were trans movies, including “Gossamer Folds,” “Cowboys,” and the 2020 Canadian-made documentary “No Ordinary Man,” which was co-directed by Chase Joynt, a festival favourite and three-time attendee. “It’s nice to see trans films/narratives/documentaries that don’t end in tragedy,” Salton said. “There’s just something hopeful about these films in particular that we were happy to see.”
For decades, the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. In No Ordinary Man, Tipton’s story is re-imagined and performed by trans-masculine artists as they collectively paint a thought-provoking and moving portrait of an unlikely hero. Together, the filmmakers join Tipton’s son Billy Jr. to reckon with a complicated and contested legacy. It is featured at the World Community Film Festival, which runs virtually from Feb. 5-13.
From our interview: “In Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s hands, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary biographical documentary. They go way beyond the standard archival footage and talking head interview approach to tell trans jazz musician Billy Tipton’s story."
No Ordinary Man will be released in Canada in 2021. It is still seeking distribution in the US and UK.
The story of transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton, who passed away in 1989, comes to life this documentary from directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt. Release date TBA.
Other highlights from the festival circuit making a stop at ReFrame include the Canada’s Top Ten selections No Ordinary Man, a portrait of transgender musician Billy Tipton told through the perspectives of audiences he inspired, and Judy Versus Capitalism, an experimental portrait of author and activist Judy Rebick.
Queer Screen’s 28th Mardi Gras Film Festival (Festival) has changed its format to offer audiences for the first time, both an online or in-cinema experience for maximum safety and personal comfort. Running from 18 February to 4 March in Sydney, and nationally on-demand, the Festival will screen with restricted and socially distanced viewings.
Showcase:
Two other Australian premieres see a gay African American teenager forced to relive May 28th, 2020 over and over again in THE OBITUARY OF TUNDE JOHNSON, a timely and urgent film about racism, homophobia and police brutatlity in the USA; and a documentary on American Jazz musician Billy Tipton whose story is reclaimed and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero in the beautiful and groundbreaking NO ORDINARY MAN.
Chase Joynt is a moving-image artist and assistant professor of gender studies at the University of Victoria. His latest short film, Framing Agnes, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, won the Audience Award at Outfest in Los Angeles, the Juror Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, and is being developed into a feature film with support from Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program. With Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase co-directed No Ordinary Man, a feature-length documentary about transmasculine jazz musician Billy Tipton, which was presented at Cannes Docs 2020 as part of the Canadian Showcase of Docs-in-Progress and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.
No Ordinary Man (84 minutes | Canada | 2020) – No Ordinary Man is an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Complicated, beautiful and historically unrivaled, this groundbreaking film shows what is possible when a community collaborates to honor the legacy of an unlikely hero.
Two other Australian premieres see a gay African American teenager forced to relive May 28th, 2020 over and over again in THE OBITUARY OF TUNDE JOHNSON, a timely and urgent film about racism, homophobia and police brutatlity in the USA; and a documentary on American Jazz musician Billy Tipton whose story is reclaimed and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero in the beautiful and groundbreaking NO ORDINARY MAN.
One of tonight's two episodes, “Elliot,” follows a young transgender high schooler who’s just come out, dealing with the usual issues of public transition, and is getting bullied not just by other students but the school’s administration as well.
While cisgender actors add value to the “Elliot” episode (including Margot Kidder’s niece!), there’s little doubt that it’s the young trans lead, Canadian actor James Goldman, who is at the heart of the episode, which was directed by Chase Joynt (the trans filmmaker behind the Billy Tipton documentary No Ordinary Man.)
The producers of French Exit, No Ordinary Man and Nadia, Butterfly are among nominees for the 15th annual Indiescreen Awards announced by the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA).
Teen romcom The Half of It explored young love from the perspective of a gay Asian female, while No Ordinary Man is a moving documentary about the transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton.
Honourable mentions: 40 Years a Prisoner, 76 Days, Collective, Dick Johnson Is Dead, The Magnitude of All Things, No Ordinary Man, The Way I See It, Welcome to Chechnya
Directed by Chayse Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee, No Ordinary Man operates with an unusual level of transparency, presenting how not just the directors but also several collaborators engage with Tipton’s story. These collaborators include co-writer Amos Mac (one of the co-founders of the influential trans masc zine Original Plumbing), historian Susan Stryker, trans activist Jamison Green, and several trans masculine actors. The subject’s lifelong act of self-preservation is treated with sensitive empathy, with many trans actors participating in a casting call for an imagined Tipton biopic.
Also screening at the festival is the Canadian documentary film No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt and written by Chin-Yee and Amos Mac, which premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival in September. “‘No Ordinary Man’ documents the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton,” Seigel explains. “In this film, Tipton’s story is reimagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of this hero.”
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) et Parabola Films sont heureux d’annoncer qu’UN VRAI GENTLEMAN (NO ORDINARY MAN) d’Aisling Chin-Yee et Chase Joynt fait partie de la sélection des 10 meilleurs long-métrages canadiens du TIFF cette année (TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten).
Co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt examine the disgraceful media scrutiny and questions of legitimacy his family endured after his death. This thoughtful, timely documentary embraces the challenge of bringing Tipton’s words to life, reimagining his narrative through a diverse group of contemporary trans performers as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero.
The Toronto International Film Festival has released its top 10 Canadian films of the year, a wide-ranging list that includes work by Indigenous filmmakers (Beans by Tracey Deer; Michelle Latimer's Inconvenient Indian), Asian-Canadian directors (Funny Boy from Deepa Mehta; No Ordinary Man, co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt), and Quebecers (Pascal Plante's powerful Nadia, Butterfly - a scene shown here - which made my own list of the year's best from Canada or anywhere else).
A True Gentleman ( No Ordinary Man ), by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, and Nadia, Butterfly, by Pascal Plante, are among the top 10 Canadian feature films at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) this year. In addition to this new award, A True Gentleman , received the New Looks award last week during the 23 rd RIDM as well as the Special Mention, Magnus-Isacsson Prize, awarded to an emerging Canadian director for a film reflecting a social conscience. The feature film examines the experience of American jazz musician Billy Tipton, presented as "the story of an ambitious woman pretending to be a man in order to pursue her musical ambitions".
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) et Parabola Films sont heureux d’annoncer qu’UN VRAI GENTLEMAN (NO ORDINARY MAN) d’Aisling Chin-Yee et Chase Joynt fait partie de la sélection des 10 meilleurs long-métrages canadiens du TIFF cette année (TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten)
The list features seven first or second features, directorial credits for six filmmakers of colour, and three Indigenous filmmakers. Forty percent of the features, and 50 percent of the shorts, are directed or codirected by women. (The documentary No Ordinary Man was codirected by trans filmmaker Chase Joynt.)
Inconvenient Indian also scored prizes at VIFF, RIDM, and the DGC Awards. Its fellow festival circuit favourite No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, also lands a spot on the list after playing the three major Canadian fall fests as well.
Un vrai gentleman (No Ordinary Man) d’Aisling Chin-Yee et Chase Joynt et Nadia, Butterfly de Pascal Plante font partie des dix meilleurs longs métrages canadiens du TIFF cette année.
Un autre honneur pour le drame sportif de Pascal Plante : Nadia, Butterfly se retrouve dans le groupe sélect des dix meilleurs longs métrages canadiens retenus par le Festival de Toronto (TIFF) pour 2020. Un vrai gentleman (No Ordinary Man) d’Aisling Chin-Yee et Chase Joynt partage le même honneur.
The list features seven first or second features, directorial credits for six filmmakers of colour and three Indigenous filmmakers. Forty per cent of the features, and 50 per cent of the shorts, are directed or co-directed by women. (The documentary No Ordinary Man was co-directed by trans filmmaker Chase Joynt.)
Coming in fifth in TIFF’s year’s best picks is Mike Hoolboom’s “Judy Versus Capitalism”, with Evan Morgan’s “The Kid Detective” in sixth, Pascal Plante’s “Nadia, Butterfly” seventh, “The Nest” by Sean Durkin eighth, “No Ordinary Man” by Aisling Chin-Yee ninth, with Brandon Cronenberg’s “Possessor” rounding out the 2020 list of feature films.
"No Ordinary Man" by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, about the life of jazz musician Billy Tipton, who was outed as a transgender man after his death in 1989.
Thanks to a growing concern with positive transgender representation, the trans cinema canon — meaning one driven by trans filmmakers — is slowly and steadily growing. Onscreen and behind the camera, trans women have been leading the charge while trans male representation lags behind. In Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee’s inventive riff on the biographical documentary, the life of trans jazz musician Billy Tipton is transformed into an exploration of trans-masculine identity. In addition to informative talking head interviews with trans scholars, such as Susan Stryker and C. Riley Norton, the film uses audition footage of trans actors vying for the role of Billy Tipton. “Ben Is Back” actor Marquise Vilson emerges as the indisputable star of the film; both for his sensitive analysis of Billy’s emotional life and stellar performance in the fictional narrative film. Like “Disclosure” did earlier this year, “No Ordinary Man” excavates an important chapter of trans history while writing the next chapter; audiences will be eager to see it.
“The winning film in the New Visions competition challenges prejudices and conventional wisdom on questions of gender identity. Past, present, fiction and reality mingle, leading to the conclusion that how others see us is only as important as we make it. A powerful story of passion and self-acceptance. The use of a casting-call as a framing device proved to be an excellent way to give many transmen an opportunity to appear both in front of and behind the camera.
A documentary that tells a heartbreaking story as it revisits and celebrates the brilliant career of an unjustly forgotten musician. We are still amazed, touched and inspired by this riveting film.”
And while many a filmmaker would focus exclusively on Tipton’s history, Chin-Yee and Joynt also place their empathetic lens on his son, Billy Jr. His presence in No Ordinary Man is sweeter than one might expect, his fondness for his father clear from the get-go, and the documentary provides him with a chance to see how meaningful the musician’s life was for others. It challenges the stories the tabloids told and proves that, as saccharine as it might sound, Billy Tipton was far more than an ordinary man; he was an inspiration to trans men everywhere.
The New Visions Award was presented to Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt for their work on the 84-minute film No Ordinary Man, which peels the curtain back on the American jazz musician Billy Tipton and the representation and treatment of trans people by society at large. The film also received a special mention for the Magnus Isacsson Award. “The winning film in the New Visions competition challenges prejudices and conventional wisdom on questions of gender identity. Past, present, fiction and reality mingle, leading to the conclusion that how others see us is only as important as we make it. A powerful story of passion and self-acceptance. The use of a casting-call as a framing device proved to be an excellent way to give many transmen an opportunity to appear both in front of and behind the camera.”
Also picking up two citations at the festival was No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt. The doc about musician Billy Tipton and the legacy of transgender artists he inspired won the New Visions Award and received a special mention for the Magnus Isacsson Award.
1) A winter trip sewn from a soft, open and vulnerable point of view. A rare work that pushes us to take a moment of reflection using an incredibly flexible and generous sharing.
NEW REGARDS AWARD presented by Post-Moderne and the Civil Society of Multimedia Authors (SCAM)
No Ordinary Man (A true gentleman) by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt (Quebec)
2) MAGNUS-ISACSSON PRIZE presented with the participation of ARRQ, DOC Québec, Funambules Médias, Cinema Politica and Main Film
Special mention is given to No Ordinary Man (a true gentleman) Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt (Quebec).
Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal (RIDM) unveiled their prize list for the 2020 edition on Tuesday evening. The inconvenient Indian , No Ordinary Man (A true gentleman) and Little Girl were notably awarded.
The Quebec documentary No Ordinary Man (A true gentleman) by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt also won two prizes: New Looks and a Special Mention.
The other winners are No Ordinary Man by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt (Prix Nouveaux Regards), Clean With Me (After Dark) by Gabrielle Stemmer (Best international short or medium film), Goodnight, Goodnight by Mackenzie Reid Rostad (best short or national film), L'Indien malcommode by Michelle Latimer (Magnus-Isacsson Prize) and Little Girl by Sébastien Lifshitz (Audience Prize).
Joynt and Chin-Yee do a superb job in setting the tone and pace in sharing so much information about how the trans community now survive and prosper, even accepting the challenges of today's polarized society. What struck me most from this excellent film, as a male gay critic who is exposed to much trans cinema, is that I can never stop having my eyes opened even further to the realities of being trans. So many face a long, hard, and very difficult journey, but it's inspiring to see this all presented in such a positive manner. The more we understand, the more we can be supportive and accepting, and that's why this movie is such a must-see!
Through intimate vignettes of his life and his testimony, in the house where Junior discusses his father's memories, we feel very well how much the media distortion of Tipton's life has been harmful to him. We also see the healing process in action. Billy Jr. has always maintained that his father was a man, even throughout the traumatic media circus surrounding his father's death and even though he didn't have the language to think of Tipton as "transgender."
Combined with the typical style of a biographical documentary is the cool flair of also showing the auditions for actors to play Billy Tipton. Very interesting wrinkle. Adds depth and perspective to the already very touching story. Knowing how his story has affected/influenced today’s trans community. A long overdue ode to a man who lived his life as best as he could given the time and circumstances.
No Ordinary Man is full of trans-centered historical context like this common narrative that Stryker explains. Produced by a team that includes notable trans creators like co-director Chase Joynt and co-writer Amos Mac, it's tempting to say No Ordinary Man aims to "set the record straight" or something like that—but that's not really possible, and it's not really the point. No Ordinary Man reminds us that if we aren't empowered to tell our own stories, we're condemned to have others tell them for us.
Today, November 20th, is Trans Day of Remembrance. Fittingly, the RIDM’s second week of online screenings include a must-see. No Ordinary Man, by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt shed light on an almost mythic creature from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s Jazz scene in Oklahoma.
I was sort of afraid that Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man would be one of those “forgotten music legend” type documentaries and that it would spend much of its running time hyping the pianist’s minimal output. It is, after all, a popular genre of documentary these days. But Tipton’s career takes a backseat to Tipton’s importance in the media landscape, particularly when it comes to issues of trans representation. Without really coming across as an activist documentary, No Ordinary Man makes its points clearly enough for any cis-het jabroni such as myself to leave the film fired up for change.
Becoming Oneself: 12 portraits and self-portraits about how we relate to the world: inspiring and poetic existential quests that affirm multiple definitions of self.This section has a particularly strong Quebec presence...eagerly anticipated features: No Ordinary Man (Un vrai gentleman) by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt
Documentary filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt take a look at the story of Billy Tipton, this American jazz musician whose trans identity was revealed when he died, by asking today's trans actors to bring him to life. An original approach to tackle the current subject of the place given to trans people in society.
The empathetic and confident documentary 'No Ordinary Man' (screening at DOC NYC 2020) examines the life and significance of a musician living as a transgender pioneer hiding in plain sight. This documentary elegantly and forthrightly inverts Tipton's story - focusing more on how he lived rather than the public's preoccupation with the revelations of his death. The documentary is wholly devoted to exploring gender identity as part of the human experience.
“No Ordinary Man (A True Gentleman)” is a collaborative and reflective project on how to produce the best stories for Sarah Spring. Who is in the best position to relate these stories? Within Parabola Films, this is not done "on us, without us". This is why the documentary feature film started with Aisling Chin-Yee came to fruition with Amos Mac (co-writer) and Chase Joynt (co-director). Indeed, the two trans creators were to be part of the process of a film retracing the journey of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician who, after his death, was revealed to be transgender.
Like so many festivals this year, New York City’s annual documentary film showcase, DOCNYC, has gone online and is available across the US for the first time. The festival features many Seventh Row favourites from other festivals, including Love & Stuff, Stateless, No Ordinary Man, Mayor, and The Truffle Hunters.
This is a film that needs and deserves a very long piece going into detail about Tipton, his place in the trans community, how the media didn't and doesn't handle matters of being trans well, and the effect of everything on Tipton's son. It's a head and heartful of material that has set my mind spinning. It's spinning so much that I know I need another go through in order to properly write it up. This is a must see...and see again.
Thinking back to the 1950s, jazz in America was simple and cookie-cutter. But a musician who has managed to get noticed has had a life like no other. It was Billy Tipton, who was one of the few trans artists of his time, leading the Bitty Tipton Trio, who is now remembered as a hero. Co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, this film features interviews with Tipton’s son, Billy Jr, to unveil a musical legacy that has been much overlooked.
Looking back to the 1950s, jazz in America was straightforward and cookie-cutter. But one musician who made it to the spotlight had a life unlike any other. That’s Billy Tipton, who was one of the few trans artists of his time, leading the Bitty Tipton Trio, who is now remembered as a hero. Co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, this film features interviews with Tipton’s son, Billy Jr, to unpack a musical legacy that was much overlooked. There are also compelling interviews with leading voices in the trans community, like Marquise Vilsón, Scott Turner Schofield, Susan Stryker, C.Riley Snorton, and Thomas Page McBee, among others.
For decades, the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton was presented as the story of an ambitious woman posing as a man in order to pursue a musical career. In UN VRAI GENTLEMAN, Billy Tipton’s story is rethought and performed by trans artists who collectively paint the portrait of this unlikely hero.
Les Films du 3 Mars (F3M) and Parabola Films are pleased to unveil the French trailer for the documentary UN VRAI GENTLEMAN (NO ORDINARY MAN) presented at RIDM. Co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee (The Rest of Us) and Chase Joynt (Framing Agnes), A TRUE GENTLEMAN premiered at the last Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and also won the Best Canadian feature film at the latest Inside Out Festival in Toronto. The film takes a look at the life of jazz musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton.
Billy Tipton… what a story!!! This is one of those documentaries where you don’t want to spoil a single surprise or turn in the road. Suffice it to say that Billy Tipton, born in 1914, lived a life that is barely imaginable in the 1970s, much less back then. One of those stories you just don’t see very often, made all the better by being told by documentarians.
In the section Becoming Oneself are Montrealer Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man, about the late transgender musician Billy Tipton; and Mira Burt-Wintonick’s Wintopia, a profile of her late father, influential Montreal filmmaker Peter Wintonick.
No Ordinary Man, co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, documents the life of jazz musician and bandleader Billy Tipton. Born Dorothy Lucille Tipton in 1914, the film’s subject identified as male early in life and maintained that identity until his death in 1989, when his birth sex was discovered (and made headlines). His story is told through various transgender figures (who also talk about their own experiences), as well as Tipton’s son. The film becomes a poignant exploration of trans masculinity as well as a tribute to a beloved pioneer in the trans community.
In partnership with 24 images magazine, the RIDM will present a series of podcasts focused on the work of local filmmakers : Jean-François Lesage ( Prayer for a lost mitten ), Mira Burt-Wintonick ( Wintopia ), Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee ( No Ordinary Man ), Ariel Nasr ( The forbidden story ), Sarah Baril Gaudet ( Passage ), Nicolas Lévesque ( The free ), François Delisle ( CHSLD) and more.
Today we are delighted to host Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt & Amos Mac, co-directors and co-writers of the fascinating new documentary No Ordinary Man to the show. The film chronicles the life and legacy of jazz musician Billy Tipton, whose death sparked a media firestorm after it was revealed that he was a transgender man. Aisling, Chase, and Amos share plenty of insights from their experience making the doc, an important piece of LGBTQ cinema. No Ordinary Man is part of DOC NYC’s exciting slate.
NO ORDINARY MAN is an excellent portrait of musician Billy Tipton ad viewed by the trans community It was a film that has a lot of threads running though it and it's a film I can't wait to see again
Most interesting is seeing Tipton’s wife and his son Billy Tipton Jr. in excerpts from talk shows in the 1990s when they are asked a variety of insensitive questions and do their best to defend Tipton while maintaining their dignity. Most touching is Billy Tipton Jr. in the present time talking about his father and being happily surprised that he has not been forgotten. But while making its case for the rights of transgender people, No Ordinary Man contains a bit too little about the actual life of its subject.
The life of celebrated jazz musician Billy Tipton, outed as a trans man posthumously, is used as the entry point in this engaging and compelling doc to examine the ways in which the media and academia has continually and tragically failed to capture the lives of trans men.
Other titles of LGBTQ interest among over 200 films and events include Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters, a chronicle of the love story between dancers Jones and Arnie Zane; No Ordinary Man, a look at the life and legacy of trans masculine icon Billy Tipton, an American jazz musician.
11th edition of the country's largest documentary film festival, with several LGBT-themed films: Bare, Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D'Man in the Waters, No Ordinary Man, Origin of the Species and other films. Nov 11-19.
No Ordinary Man is one of the best acquisition films of 2020. In Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s hands, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary biographical documentary. They go way beyond the standard archival footage and talking head interview approach to tell trans jazz musician Billy Tipton’s story. No Ordinary Man will screen on Canadian TV next year, but it is still seeking distribution in other territories.
“Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt take us on a thought-provoking and emotionally potent journey as they track the life and legacy of trans masculine icon American jazz musician Billy Tipton, who enjoyed a successful career in the 1940s and 50s. When he died in 1989 his story was co-opted and sensationalised by the media, portraying him as a woman who had been living his pubic and private life as a man, particularly revelling in the detail that he’d even managed to “deceive” his wife and children. Written by trans magazine Original Plumbing’s co-founder Amos Mac along with Chin-Yee, No Ordinary Man, sees Tipton’s story revisited, reclaimed and reframed by prominent trans artists and commentators of today.”
It’s a wonderfully abundant time for queer stories. Never before have we seen so much representation across the small and big screen, with shows such as the Sarah Paulson and Cynthia Nixon-starring Ratched racking up huge audiences across the globe. Teen romcom The Half of It explored young love from the perspective of a gay Asian female, while No Ordinary Man is a moving documentary about the transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton.
Co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt do a fabulous job presenting the complexities of Tipton’s life on screen. Billy Tipton essentially exists as two separate entities, the real-life father, husband, and musician, but also as a figure of inspiration for the broader LGBTQ community. We know very little about the specifics of Billy’s gender identity, but Chin-Yee and Joynt understand the importance of showcasing the impact that his life has had on our community.
Latimer is also nominated for the DGC Discovery Award to be handed out tonight, as are Aisling Chin=Yee and Chase Joynt for their doc No Ordinary Man, along with Tracey Deer for the drama Beans and Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli for the horror flick Violation.
From November 19 to 25, the RIDM will focus on “Contemplating Dystopia” with films about the absurdities of the world, as well as profile docs in the series “Becoming Oneself.” The section also includes Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s groundbreaking portrait of transgender musician Billy Tipton, No Ordinary Man.
Less painterly, but more cohesively powerful, is Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt‘s documentary No Ordinary Man, which approaches the story of trans jazz musician Billy Tipton from a most fascinating metatextual angle. Now, in the 21st century, trans narratives are rising to the forefront, with the added benefit of trans filmmakers claiming ownership of them. In so doing, Chin-Yee and Joynt take the delightfully idiosyncratic tack of examining Tipton’s life through the lens of a group of transmasculine actors “auditioning” for the role of Billy in a biopic. It’s a delightfully metafictional approach, recreating the life of the film’s subject through the legacy he leaves to trans men who came after him.
Billy Tipton may have had five wives, but he led a relatively tame life by jazz musician standards, settling down in Spokane and even adopting three children. It wasn’t until he passed away in 1989 and it was revealed that he was a trans man that his name was splashed across national tabloid headlines. This thoughtful documentary—seen here in its American premiere, fresh from the Toronto International Film Festival—looks back on Tipton’s life with the help of keen insights from several trans men.
When I interviewed Canadian director Chase Joynt about his feature documentary No Ordinary Man at TIFF, he told me he was “working on a feature film called Framing Agnes which is about never before seen case studies from trans history.” What I didn’t realise was that this feature is a continuation of a short film of the same name, co-directed by Kristen Schilt, which is playing SQIFF, and acts as a brilliant companion piece to No Ordinary Man.
The Portraits section profiles individuals including Pope Francis (Evgeny Afineevsky’s “Francesco”), jazz musician Billy Tipton (Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s “No Ordinary Man”) and congresswoman Barbara Lee (Abby Ginzberg’s “Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me”).
American jazz musician Billy Tipton, long viewed as an ambitious woman who passed as a man in pursuit of a music career, is reframed as a transgender icon.
If you miss "No Ordinary Man" at AFI, the film is just beginning its festival run where it will hopefully find multiple distributors bidding to buy it. You can watch an interview with Chase Joynt, Amos Mac, and co-director and co-writer Aisling Chin-Yee, alongside Marquise Vilsón from their world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival here.
Radiant Film’s No Ordinary Man depicts the life of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician that was revealed to be transgender after his death, which is premiering for the first time in the United States on October 18th.
“No Ordinary Man,” is Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s fascinating, thoughtful documentary that investigates the impact and legacy of the late jazz musician Billy Tipton. But the strength of this documentary is not only in the telling of Tipton’s story, but also in how it acts as a springboard for the trans community to give voice to their stories of identification, visibility, and self-worth.
International Documentary Association - Marc Glassman
October 8, 2020
Since there is no footage of the pianist in performance or in home movies, the directors rely, for biographical details, on Billy Tipton Jr.’s emotional recollections of his father along with some photos, the one record album and Diane Middlebrook’s biography Suits Me. In order to get closer to who Tipton might have been, the directors shot extensively with trans people who perform Billy in scenes for what might have been a drama and discuss their feelings about Tipton’s life. No Ordinary Man is a unique film, worthy of attention.
No Ordinary Man is an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Complicated, beautiful and historically unrivaled, this groundbreaking film shows what is possible when a community collaborates to honor the legacy of an unlikely hero. DIR Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt. SCR Aisling Chin-Yee, Amos Mac. Canada
For the first time in the festival’s history, the Inside Out LGBT Film Festival announced its juried winners on opening weekend, with the top jury prizes going to No Ordinary Man directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt for Best Canadian Feature and No Hard Feelings directed by Faraz Shariat for Best First Feature.
No Ordinary Man is an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Complicated, beautiful and historically unrivaled, this groundbreaking film shows what is possible when a community collaborates to honor the legacy of an unlikely hero. DIR Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt. SCR Aisling Chin-Yee, Amos Mac. Canada
The 11-day festival, organized by the Philadelphia Film Society, will also give drive-in play for Todd Chandler's Bulletproof; Sonia Kennebeck's Enemies of the State; Jean-Cosme Delaloye's Harley; Aisling Chin-Yee's No Ordinary Man; Patricia Delgado's La Leyenda Negra; and Steven Kostanski's PG (Psycho Goreman).
For the first time in the history of Toronto’s annual Inside Out LGBT Film Festival, the jury prize winners have been revealed near the fest’s start, letting audiences check out the honoured films throughout the digital festival’s dates. Top honours went to directors Faraz Shariat for “No Hard Feelings” (Best First Feature), Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt for “No Ordinary Man” (Best Canadian Feature), Chris Ross for “Swimmers” (Best Canadian Short) and David Di Giovanni for “Body So Fluorescent” (Emerging Canadian Artist).
Although No Ordinary Man is at face value a biography of a trans masculine icon, it is also so much more. In their exploration of the life of Jazz musician Billy Tipton, filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt explore not just Tipton’s life, but the way in which society tends to remember LGBTQ+ individuals and their experiences. Although there are some moments that utilize traditional documentary techniques, like archive footage and talking heads, it is the other, more innovative approaches to this story that will make it stand out. As the title would suggest, this is no ordinary biography.
The Inside Out LGBT Film Festival unveiled its juried winners today. The top accolades went to Faraz Shariat’s No Hard Feelings for Best First Feature and Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man for Best Canadian Feature.
The other major prize, the Best Canadian Feature award, went to Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s documentary about jazz musician and trans icon No Ordinary Man. The film was also a highlight of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
One of the highlights of last month’s Toronto International Film Festival was the extraordinary No Ordinary Man, which world premiered at TIFF’s semi-virtual 45th edition. The thought-provoking and emotionally potent feature documentary takes an innovative approach to reclaim and reframe the life story and legacy of popular 1940s and 50s jazz musician—and transmasculine icon—Billy Tipton, with contributions from prominent trans artists and commentators of today both behind and in front of the camera.
If you missed it at TIFF, Inside Out offers you another shot at Chin-Yee and Joynt’s documentary about the life of trans jazz musician Billy Tipton, which is as much about trans life now as it is about Tipton’s own history. Kevin Ritchie wrote Chin-Yee and Joynt “vividly capture the emotional impact of recognizing aspects of one’s own story in the life of another.”
Canadian films at the 2020 Inside Out festival include No Ordinary Man, a profound and moving documentary about 1940s jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton; Shiva Baby, about an excruciating but hilarious afternoon one queer Jewish woman spends with her family at a shiva; and Spiral, a horror film starring Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Ari Cohen.
Check out our Original-Cin reviews of two recent Toronto International Film Festival films, repeating at Inside Out: Emma Seligman’s sharply funny comedy Shiva Baby, and the documentary No Ordinary Man, about the late jazz musician and trans bandleader, Billy Tipton.
Not only do Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt employ Tipton’s photographs, music and personal tape recordings, the “talking heads” interviews shed insights into a world of Transmasculinity and gender versus sexuality. I particularly enjoyed sequences where Trans men were reading from a Script about a proposed Tipton Biopic and their unique and individual interpretations of how Tipton would react, intermingling with their own thoughts and experiences. NO ORDINARY MAN is groundbreaking and triumphant.
The late musician is routinely misgendered, treated as a kind of gender double agent, and discussed in terms of deception and secrecy, as “a woman pretending to be a man.” “No Ordinary Man”, co-directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, a film that premiered this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, seeks to change all that. It’s a documentary of sorts, written by Amos Mac (co-founder of the trans magazine “Original Plumbing”), telling the story of Tipton’s life, elements of which are recreated by actors and trans artists because there was no traditional archival material available. Picked up for distribution by Radiant Films, keep an eye out for a streaming/theatrical release of this fascinating story, one finally properly told by queer people.
The title “No Ordinary Man” well justifies the concept of the documentary, telling the story of an extraordinary artist, Billy Tipton, who had to use his imagination and do everything possible to stay who he wanted to be in an unjust and unkind world. It is clever, funny at times and informative enough to start doing your own digging.
This year has been an exceptionally good one for docs at TIFF, and “No Ordinary Man” might be my favorite of the bunch. The film ostensibly chronicles the life of jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton. But it grows into something even richer as directors Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee incorporate scenes of trans artists auditioning to “play” Tipton in a fictional biopic, while discussing what his life and legacy mean to both the transgender community at-large and themselves as individuals. The result is a vital, emotional dialogue about trans history and representation.
A fascinating correction of history also serves as the foundation for No Ordinary Man. This notably trans-inclusive film by Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee corrects the story of jazz musician Billy Tipton, which largely endures as myth that he was a woman masquerading as a man to forge a career. The film revisits Tipton’s story through voices that are now able to live as their true selves thanks to the sacrifices of people like Tipton and the opportunity for conversations that their stories create.
In Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee’s inventive riff on the biographical documentary, the life of trans jazz musician Billy Tipton is transformed into an exploration of trans-masculine identity. “Ben Is Back” actor Marquise Vilson emerges as the indisputable star of the film; both for his sensitive analysis of Billy’s emotional life and stellar performance in the fictional narrative film. Like “Disclosure” did earlier this year, “No Ordinary Man” excavates an important chapter of trans history while writing the next chapter.
6) In Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s hands, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary biographical documentary. They go way beyond the standard archival footage and talking head interview approach to tell trans jazz musician Billy Tipton’s story. Joynt explained that “understanding that there was no moving image footage of Tipton was both a restriction and an opportunity for us to immediately start thinking creatively beyond the bounds of reenactment and other ways that biopics tend to be created.”
30 years after his death, this creative documentary about the figure of jazz musician Billy Tipton questions with accuracy and depth the representation and treatment of trans people in the media and in society. Skillfully combining historical research and an original audition process allowing trans artists to interpret Tipton to better reflect on their current condition, this vibrant film manages to finally do justice to a man who fought against his time, while reflecting on the challenges of the present.
TIFF’s documentary game was particularly strong in 2020, and No Ordinary Man ranks at the top. It is a breathtaking look at trans representation centered around the unforgettable story of late jazz musician Billy Tipton.
In addition, TIFF 2020 gave us the documentary No Ordinary Man—a riveting look at jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton. Sadly you won’t find any of Tipton’s music in our curated playlist because his recordings aren’t widely available, which rather drives home the need for spotlights like Man. So when you’re done listening to the above, we highly recommend heading to YouTube to experience just a few of his classic tracks.
In Chin-Yee and Joynt’s hands, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary biographical documentary. They go way beyond the standard archival footage and talking head interview approach to tell Tipton’s story.
No Ordinary Man: Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt craft a beautiful, vital film, using the story of Billy Tipton as a touchstone to dive into questions of gender and sexuality. Frank discussions and testimonies raise the level of discourse thanks to eloquent, generous contributors.
Another highlight was the documentary “No Ordinary Man,” which chronicles the life of Oklahoma’s own Billy Tipton, an iconic jazz pianist. The documentary certainly feels important right now, as conversations about gender identity increasingly include trans voices.
No Ordinary Man is a fantastic documentary in several ways. First the story of Billy Tipton is both inspiring and also sad. It was great seeing different transmasculine actors read for the role and put their own spin on Tipton. Not only that but it gave new insight into not just Billy but the transgender experience in America all together.
30 years after the death of jazz musician Billy Tipton, this creative documentary is an honest, in-depth exploration of the representation and treatment of transgender people by the media and society at large. Skilfully combining historical research and an original creative process in which trans actors portray Tipton as a way to reflect on their own situation, this vibrant film does long-overdue justice to a man who fought against his era, while also commenting on present-day challenges.
Co-directed by Canadian filmmakers Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee, this documentary looks at the life and legacy of jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton, whose trans identity was revealed to the world after his death in 1989. Although misgendered and misunderstood at the time, Tipton went on to have a profound impact on the trans community. This profound and moving film explores the musician’s lasting legacy through the perspectives of a series of trans actors, writers and thinkers.
The scenes of the actors discussing what resonated are poignant and telling. It’s an increasingly familiar, yet effective documentary conceit that frequently packs an emotional wallop. In one of the most gut-wrenching sequences, we see Billy Tipton Jr. describing his father’s death to talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael. Not only did Tipton’s death lead to the realization that Tipton was trans, but that the medical condition that took his life went untreated because he did not see a doctor—likely for fear of discrimination. These kinds of overlapping realizations create a complex portrait while making No Ordinary Man as much about the present as it is about the past. The film ultimately builds to a moving and surprising climax in which the empathetic trans views of Tipton are finally able to eclipse the parochial tabloid tale.
The filmmakers also include lengthy visits with Billy Tipton Jr., which are particularly moving. The project is "deeply grounded in collaboration across identity positions, across genres, across styles and historical time periods," as Joynt describes. No Ordinary Man premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September, and is currently playing at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival.
Aisling Chin-Yee is an award-winning producer, writer, and director based in Montreal, Canada and Los Angeles, California. She made her feature directorial debut with 2019’s “The Rest of Us.” Her producing credits include “Rhymes for Young Ghouls,” “Last Woman Standing,” and “The Saver.” In 2017, Chin-Yee co-founded the #AfterMeToo movement alongside Mia Kirshner and Freya Ravensbergen. “No Ordinary Man” will screen at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival, which is taking place September 10-20. Chase Joynt co-directed the film.
There’s no explanation for why only one of his three sons appears in the documentary, or why the filmmakers don’t appear to have interviewed anyone else who knew Tipton.And yet No Ordinary Man is a fascinating and exhilarating film. The archival material is impressive and the talking-head interviews deeply compassionate and intellectually heady.
Directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, “No Ordinary Man” employs a feast of trans masculine performers to embody and engage with Tipton’s story. In a fascinating sleight of hand, the film transforms a fairly routine part of the acting process into a profound and intimate way to connect across time with a fellow gender transgressor.
Best programming: Even though TIFF featured only a fraction of the Canadian titles it usually showcases, the homegrown lineup was surprisingly strong, with nary a dud in the bunch. Thanks to word-of-mouth, I now have Fauna and No Ordinary Man on my must-secure-a-way-to-watch-before-2021 list.
"No Ordinary Man" takes a look at jazz musician Billy Tipton whose identity as a transmasculine performer wasn't revealed until after his death. Called "one of the best trans films he's ever seen" by TIFF Artistic Director and Co-Head, Cameron Bailey, co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt share with ET Canada why they're absolutely floored by the incredible response.
In their new documentary No Ordinary Man, co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt along with writer Amos Mac revisit Tipton’s story through a trans lens. Prior to the documentary’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, I spoke with the filmmakers about Tipton’s story, representation on screen and the importance of trans histories.
The transidentity of the musician was not revealed until after his death. In addition to the fascinating story of a being who, all his life, had to hide the gender assigned to his birth, even from his relatives, we also find the testimonies of trans people called to audition to possibly interpret the musician in the film. The visions they express are all very enlightening. And help to better understand the reality in which they operate.
As the Toronto International Film Festival pushes on, some favourites have arisen which will also play at FIN. Aisling Chin-Yee stunned last festival with The Rest Of Us and returns with No Ordinary Man, a film about Billy Tipton.
No Ordinary Man confronts the way the media and society approaches the existence of trans men. More specifically the erasure of trans men. The film does this through the lens of the life of Billy Tipton and how the media reacted after his trans identity was revealed after his death in 1989. Honestly, this documentary will generate a wave of emotions.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, co-directors of the Canadian doc "No Ordinary Man," also worked via Zoom from their respective cities to do post-production.
There were smaller wonders, too: the comedian Rachel Sennott quirms heroically in the dark comedy Shiva Baby; The Black Arts Movement gets a revisit via Nouvelle Vague in Ephraim Asili’s The Inheritance; trans figure Billy Tipton's jazz legacy is rebuilt in No Ordinary Man; and 76 Days documents the riveting, excruciating experience of medical professionals and their professionals during WuHan's coronavirus lockdown.
Through a series of interviews with trans performers, some of whom auditioned to play Tipton in a biographical film, we learn about the impact of his life as a performer both on and offstage.
On August 15, an episode of the History channel series The UnXplained aired in the U.S. called "Leading Double Lives". “The show was regurgitating the most well-rehearsed narratives about Tipton’s life,” says No Ordinary Man co-director Chase Joynt, “which is that he was a woman passing as a man in pursuit of a career in music.”
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, co-directors of the Canadian doc "No Ordinary Man," also worked via Zoom from their respective cities to do post-production.
The movie is Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s “No Ordinary Man,” one of the best films I’ve ever seen about trans representation, reporting, and history. It takes the stale concept of a bio-doc and flips it to ask how we tell certain kinds of stories and what those choices do to underrepresented groups like trans masculine men. It’s moving and empowering, a reminder of how far we’ve come and how far we have to go.
NO ORDINARY MAN is a brave and beautiful statement on Billy Tipton and the many men living similar lives. It declares the truth of trans lives with a clear voice and reaffirms the strength and authenticity of these men. The world is a better place with them living their truth. Hell, one of them could even be a Billy Tipton for a future generation.
No Ordinary Man is a vital piece of history told objectively and with a great deal of passion from everyone involved. Not only a plea for the importance of acknowledging representation throughout history, No Ordinary Man is a fascinating logical problem that the filmmakers have to work around, succeeding – much like Billy – against all odds.
This documentary aims to cover Billy’s life with the honour and respect he deserved. Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt do a beautiful job telling Billy’s story through interviews with his family and trans men who are following in Billy’s footsteps today. Billy Tipton is an important figure in trans masc history. He is now seen as a trans icon, as someone who was able to live an incredibly successful and vibrant life at a time when there were no resources for the trans community.
“I’ll say the same thing now that I said in 2018 when ‘The Danish Girl’ was getting all the outrage: if you cannot find a transgender actor for the project, maybe you shouldn’t be going ahead!” Solzman said. “I was watching ‘No Ordinary Man’ during my TIFF coverage and this film featured a beautiful display of trans-masculinity on screen. The idea that filmmakers can’t find trans-masculine actors is complete BS. It just proves to show that they aren’t looking hard enough.”
No Ordinary Man is a stunner of a documentary. It’s a hybrid really, in which filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt add just the right dose of creative fiction to galvanise the largely forgotten history of a trans icon, American Jazz musician Billy Tipton. This film is a timely conversation in which past and present intersect to create a space for acceptance and healing.
I love the approach that co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt take in directing the film. It’s part documentary and part holding casting auditions to portray Billy Tipton in a film. This audition approach is easily one of the strongest parts of the film. We have trans-masculine actors sharing their own stories and what Tipton meant to their own history.
In the case of trans jazz musician Billy Tipton, how do you make a documentary about a figure whose legacy has been distorted by mainstream media for decades after their death? It’s a responsibility that co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt didn’t take lightly.
“We are thrilled to come on board No Ordinary Man on the cusp of its World Premiere at TIFF, one of the most prestigious festivals in the world,” mentioned Steinbauer, President and CEO of Radiant Films International. “Billy Tipton’s life is an incredible legacy for the trans community and the film’s message is more important than ever. The filmmakers’ unique approach to storytelling captured us in the way only a few films can, and we are so proud to be part of its journey.”
Two of the Canadian documentaries — An Inconvenient Indian and No Ordinary Man — are two of the best films at the festival and of the year, both experimenting with form
“No Ordinary Man” by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt: “The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.” (Canada)
Other Canadian films in the lineup include “No Ordinary Man” by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, about transgender American jazz musician Billy Tipton.
Films that also premiere today online at 6 pm at Bell Digital Cinema are The Way I See It, The Boy From Medellin, Spring Blossom, No Ordinary Man, and Get the Hell Out.
There’s a lot of talk about the importance of representation on screen, but No Ordinary Man sets out to vividly capture the emotional impact of recognizing aspects of one’s own story in the life of another. The scenes of the actors discussing what resonated are poignant and telling. It’s an increasingly familiar, yet effective documentary conceit that frequently packs an emotional wallop.
It will be possible for online viewers, in particular, to see more than 50 percent of the documentaries curated for the festival. You can see such docs as...No Ordinary Man (about trans-pianist Billy Tipton).
Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt bring the compelling story of jazz musician Billy Tipton to life in their documentary "No Ordinary Man". Revealed to be a trans man after his death, the documentary uses transmasculine performers and experts to help recount his life and achievements, reframing his entire legacy.
His complicated story is told smoothly and conceptually by filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, who use trans actors to express nuanced thoughts on Tipton and identity issues. Tender, topical and well-crafted, No Ordinary Man is no ordinary film.
If the words of history are wildly inaccurate thanks to ignorant, if mostly well-intentioned, cis-het white folks, then No Ordinary Man brilliantly rewrites the past. This significant film from directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt and writer Amos Mac corrects the story of jazz musician Billy Tipton through voices he inspired.
On a formal level, this film shares the vitality of its subjects, deftly connecting Tipton’s identity to modern trans representation through clever editing and impassioned perspectives. No Ordinary Man is groundbreaking in how it links Tipton’s story with the struggles and triumphs of the people who followed in his footsteps, presented in their own words.
"No Ordinary Man" is a brilliant and inspiring documentary that highlights the life of a hero, provides indispensable testimonies from trans people and talks about many relevant topics such as: the relationship between gender and sexual identity, media transphobia, narratives used to justify violence against the trans community and the physical and emotional problems of transmasculinity. It is a work presented with creativity, passion and understanding.
Wrapped around the conceit of several trans actors auditioning for the role of Billy, it considers the sexual politics and the question of whether Tipton was simply seeking professional opportunities not available to women, or whether he self-identified as a man. It’s not a deep dive into Tipton’s life, but a lively investigation into what he means today.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s doc about jazz musician Billy Tipton No Ordinary Man, and TT the Artist’s “audiovisual experience” about Balitmore club music Dark City Beneath the Beat are also playing Inside Out.
“No Ordinary Man” by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt: “The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.” (Canada)
4) No Ordinary Man - It highlights the life of famous American jazz singer Billy Tipton in the 1940s and 50s, who hides the fact that he is transgender until the end of his life in 1989.
Other notable documentarians with films in Toronto include ... Aisling Chin-Lee, with “Ordinary Man,” on the footprints left by jazz artist and trans icon Billy Tipton...
After the premiere of her feature directing debut The Rest Of Us at last year’s TIFF, Chin-Yee (a recipient of the festival’s Canning Fellowship) teamed with Joynt, a transgender artist and writer whose short Framing Agnes premiered at last year’s Tribeca, to make this documentary about US jazz musician Billy Tipton. The film — backed by organisations including the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada — uses performances by trans artists and Tipton’s son to cast the musician as an unlikely hero.
“We are thrilled to come on board No Ordinary Man on the cusp of its world premiere at TIFF, one of the most prestigious festivals in the world,” said Steinbauer, president and CEO of Radiant Films International. “Billy Tipton’s life is an incredible legacy for the trans community and the film’s message is more important than ever. The filmmakers’ unique approach to storytelling captured us in the way only a few films can, and we are so proud to be part of its journey.”
No Ordinary Man, a feature-length documentary about the life of American jazz legend and trans icon Billy Tipton, is making its world premiere at an interesting moment for trans representation on screen. “That’s one of the questions of the moment, isn’t it,” says co-director Chase Joynt when asked whether international film festivals are making more space for trans stories than before.
No Ordinary Man doesn’t tell Tipton’s story in one way. Because there was no recorded footage of Tipton, the filmmakers recreated aspects of his life, and essentially put some of the first moving images representing Tipton onscreen. But Chin-Yee explains that any recreation has a certain lens or bias, whether her’s, Joynt’s, Mac’s or an actor playing the role. The burden of representation was too big for their perspectives alone. So they opened it up.
The documentary ‘No Ordinary Man’ retells the story of Billy Tipton's rise to fame in the 1940s through a modern lens. The documentary’s co-director, Chase Joynt, and activist and actor, Marquise Vilsón, join us.
Beautifully assembled and structurally brilliant, No Ordinary Man is an exceptional documentary that powerfully recontextualizes Tipton’s story, while also providing a moving exploration of transmasculine identities.
Directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt discuss their documentary No Ordinary Man, which centres on the life of Billy Tipton — a successful jazz musician whose trans identity was not publicly revealed until after his death.
There’s no jazz to No Ordinary Man. The film seeks to understand Tipton in 2020 terms. “The question of this project is how can we interpret historical subjects, knowing what we know now about gender and sexuality?” says Joynt. “And how can trans people in the contemporary moment find their histories and engage their communities in ways that make sense for them?”
After the premiere of her feature directing debut The Rest Of Us at last year’s TIFF, Chin-Yee (a recipient of the festival’s Canning Fellowship) teamed with Joynt, a transgender artist and writer whose short Framing Agnes premiered at last year’s Tribeca, to make this documentary about US jazz musician Billy Tipton. The film — backed by organisations including the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada — uses performances by trans artists and Tipton’s son to cast the musician as an unlikely hero.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt's documentary No Ordinary Man examines the fate of jazz musician Billy Tipton, who was discovered to be transgender after his death.
It’s a moving, multilayered exploration of Tipton’s life in jazz from the 1930s through the ’70s, and the flurry of tabloid-like media attention that followed the revelation of Tipton’s trans identity following his death in 1989.
Other Canadian films in the lineup include “No Ordinary Man” by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, about transgender American jazz musician Billy Tipton.
From Canadian filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, this documentary maps out the life and career of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon. The film serves to honour his legacy through a diverse group of contemporary trans performers, while also examining the intense media scrutiny faced by members of the trans community.
Chase Joynt (MA ’11, PhD ’16) – Director, No Ordinary Man This documentary explores that legacy of 20th-century American jazz musician Billy Tipton, whose trans identity was revealed after his death in 1989. It’s co-directed by Chase Joynt (MA ’11, PhD ’16), a transgender moving-image artist and writer. His latest film, No Ordinary Man, and is already generating early acclaim ahead of its premiere at TIFF.
No Ordinary Man - Section TIFF Docs - Réalisation : Aisling Chin-Yee et Chase Joynt - Scénarisation : Aisling Chin-Yee et Amos Mac - Production : Parabola Films - Distribution : Les Films du 3 Mars
Finally, we should mention the presence of the feature documentary No Ordinary Man by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt and that of the minority co-production La nuit des rois.
No Ordinary Man is a Canadian documentary from directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt telling the story of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician who was revealed after his death to be transgender. Another Round (Druk), Falling, No Ordinary Man, and The New Corporation, which I mentioned above as part of the program at TIFF, will also be at FIN (FIN Atlantic International Film Festival). FIN runs from September 17 to 24.
In the 1940s and 1950s, jazz musician Billy Tipton was a fixture on the American nightclub circuit, crossing paths with icons including Liberace and Duke Ellington. Following his death in 1989, Tipton was outed as a transgender man, setting off a shameful media sensation that cast him as a swindler trying to make it in the music industry. In this Canadian documentary, directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt restore Tipton's cultural legacy with the help of a troupe of transgender artists.
Montreal’s Aisling Chin-Yee is back at TIFF once again (her directorial debut, The Rest of Us, premiered at the fest last year), this time alongside trans writer and moving-image artist Chase Joynt. The pair co-directed No Ordinary Man, a thoughtful documentary about the lasting legacy of 20th-century jazz musician Billy Tipton, who became a trans icon once his identity was publicly revealed after his death in 1989.
You could venture to see Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt's No Ordinary Man (8 p.m., Bell Lightbox) about a remarkable musician and then dive into Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer's Fireball (digital presentation) as part of a doc-heavy day.
All three Canadian documentary features playing Toronto — Inconvenient Indian by Michelle Latimer, The New Corporation by Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan, and No Ordinary Man by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt—appear in Vancouver’s line-up.
Tipton caught the multiple meanings of this clever title early in her career as a musician and improvised on it for the rest of her life, in undetected drag. Playing a sequence of roles historically reserved for the ‘opposite sex,’ Tipton demonstrated by her accomplishment that gender, unlike sex, is in large part a performance: she was the actor, he was the role.
After bringing her first feature The Rest Of Us to last year’s festival, producer/director Chin-Yee returns with a documentary, co-directed with trans filmmaker Joynt, about jazz pianist Billy Tipton, who was revealed after his death in 1989 to have been trans.
Following her feature debut at TIFF 2019, Aisling Chin-Yee returns with her documentary No Ordinary Man. Chin-Yee and co-director Chase Joynt tell the story of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, and bring his legacy to life with a diverse group of contemporary trans performers. Chin-Yee joined TIFF last year for TIFF Filmmaker Lab as the TIFF Canning Fellow.
The jazz world isn’t exactly known for its strict social mores but for Billy Tipton, acceptance was conditional. In No Ordinary Man, co-directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt employ trans actors to examine Tipton’s life as the musician and jazz icon experienced it.
Premiering at TIFF, this feature documentary about trans legend Billy Tipton, the late musician, takes us into his life story, legacy, and heroism. The doc was co-written by trans writer Amos Mac, and Aisling Chin-Yee.
Playback's sister publication Realscreen catches up with the programmer to discuss how the pandemic and hybrid-physical shift impacted TIFF's documentary selections, and more.
Amongst the Canadian titles, the film No Ordinary Man [directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt]. It’s a film that has really stayed with me strongly since I saw it earlier this summer. I keep thinking about that one.
Deer is one of six women who have graduated from TIFF Talent Development initiatives with work at this year's Festival. The other five are Michelle Latimer (TIFF Talent Lab, TIFF Writers' Studio) with Inconvenient Indian and Trickster; Aisling Chin-Yee (TIFF Filmmaker Lab, TIFF Canning Fellow) with No Ordinary Man; Emma Seligman (TIFF Next Wave, TIFF Kids) with Shiva Baby; Madeleine Sims-Fewer (TIFF Filmmaker Lab, TIFF Rising Stars) with Violation; and Dea Kulumbegashvili (TIFF Filmmaker Lab) with Beginning.
Tickets for this year’s festival go on sale beginning August 28 for members at the Contributor level. TIFF recently announced its line-up of feature films, which includes documentaries such as The New Corporation, Inconvenient Indian, No Ordinary Man, and Fireball. The complete line-up of films and events will be out August 25.
Les Films du 3 Mars et Parabola Films soulignent que « No Ordinary Man », long métrage documentaire co-réalisé par Aisling Chin-Yee (« The Rest of Us ») et Chase Joynt (« Framing Agnes »), sera projeté lors de la 45e édition du Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
“No Ordinary Man” by Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt: “The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.” (Canada).
Written by transgender writer Amos Mac and Montreal filmmaker Aisling Chin-Yee,No Ordinary Man represents the only feature film with transgender filmmakers screening at this year’s TIFF.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man is a documentary about jazz pianist Billy Tipton, who was revealed after his death to have been trans.
TIFF Synopsis: “The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.”
Deux productions québécoises anglophones font tout de même partie de la sélection. Il s’agit du documentaire No Ordinary Man, qui a été produit par la boite montréalaise Parabola Films, et de Beans, nouveau film de la réalisatrice et scénariste mohawk Tracey Deer qui revient sur la crise d’Oka.
Written by Amos Mac (co-founder of trans magazine Original Plumbing) and Aisling Chin-Yee, No Ordinary Man documents the life of American Jazz musician Billy Tipton (pictured above) whose story, for decades since his death, was framed as an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career.
Other films in the Canadian lineup include the documentary "No Ordinary Man" by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, about American transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton.
Canadian talent will also be heavily featured at this year’s festival, including Tracey Deers’ Beans, and Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man.
Aisling Chin-Yee (@spectraversa) and @ChaseJoynt's NO ORDINARY MAN explores the legacy of 20th century American jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton, brought to life by a group of contemporary trans artists.
The film, written by transgender writer Amos Mac, is an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. “This has been an extraordinary collaboration, not only between us as directors, but with the many visionary trans culture-makers featured in the film. Bringing Billy Tipton’s story to audiences at TIFF is incredibly rewarding,” said Chin-Yee and Joynt.
...transgender saga “No Ordinary Man,” which uses jazz musician Billy Tipton as a way into the story of trans people today. “Tipton was operating at a time when there was little understanding of his way of life,” said Powers. Bailey called the film “one of the best trans films I have ever seen.”
Check out the full TIFF 2020 lineup below. The 45h Toronto International Film Festival will run September 10 – 19th...No Ordinary Man Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt | Canada
The Canadian contingent at Toronto will include Latimer also screening her feature documentary Inconvenient Indian, about Canadian storyteller Jonathan King; Tracey Deer's coming-of-age drama Beans; No Ordinary Man, from directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt; and the psychological thriller Violation, directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer, who also stars, and Dusty Mancinelli.
Other films in the Canadian lineup include the documentary "No Ordinary Man" by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, about American transgender jazz musician Billy Tipton.
The festival unveiled its 50 feature picks, with films from Tracey Deer, Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt and two projects from Michelle Latimer in the mix. Two TIFF-bound Canadian documentaries are No Ordinary Man, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, and The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, directed by Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s No Ordinary Man is a documentary about jazz pianist Billy Tipton, who was revealed after his death to have been trans.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynta’s feature-length documentary No Ordinary Man, meanwhile, tells the story of jazz musician Billy Tipton. The film was presented at Cannes Docs 2020 as part of the Canadian Showcase of Docs-in-Progress.
Among the Canadian docs debuting at Toronto are Michelle Latimer’s Inconvenient Indian, based on the book by Thomas King; The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott’s follow-up to the acclaimed 2003 film; and No Ordinary Man, Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt’s genre-bending take on jazz musician Billy Tipton.
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, meanwhile, were in the later stages of editing their film No Ordinary Man when COVID interrupted work plans. The documentary is about the life and legacy of jazz musician Billy Tipton. Since his death in 1989, the most enduring story about Tipton’s life was that he was a woman passing as a man in pursuit of a career in music. Chin-Yee and Joynt’s film invites several trans artists to reimagine collectively Tipton’s story. However, with principle photography completed, Chin-Yee says the transition to work-at-home was relatively seamless aside from the odd lag in the transfer of materials.
Canadian representation is also very pronounced with Director Aisling Chin-Yee returning with NO ORDINARY MAN, a Documentary about a transgender Jazz Musician Billy Tipton who for many years was framed as an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of music career.
KCRW - JULY 15: “‘Mama Weed’ works because of star Isabelle Huppert, says critic” by Madeline Brand, Alonso Duralde, Dave White
