”A transgender person is someone who wakes up every morning and looks at their body and says, ‘Get me out of here’!” This is what it takes to do just that – to let the old self die and open to the new and unborn self.
THE BODY SHIFTS BUT THE GUITAR REMAINS THE SAME
Produced by Palmwood Pictures and J2J Productions.
SYNOPSIS
What happens when you wake up one morning and decide to tell everyone a secret you’ve been hiding for nearly 50 years. It’s a truth that will turn your whole world upside-down. Your relationship with everyone you know – your mother, your children, your siblings, your friends and your work colleagues – will never be the same.
This is a film about an extraordinary woman who once was a man. John 2 Josie tells the sometimes sad, sometimes painful but quite often uplifting story of a complex transgender journey, a “work-in-progress”. Told with often brutal honesty by both John and Josie (who, at times, interview each other), it’s ultimately an inspirational and universal ode to the struggle to be true to oneself. And how one person can survive and transform their life against heavy odds.
The film is two-thirds shot with approximately 30 hours of material in the can. Further shooting is planned as further funding becomes available. Approx $80,000 is required in order to complete filming and all post-production work. The film will then be entered into Film Festivals around the world, screened on various TV channels around the world and available for purchase on DVD.
PALMWOOD PICTURES
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR – JAMES LINGWOOD
James Lingwood is a multi award-winning producer/director of international television commercials, documentaries and high concept promotional & corporate films. Over the past 25 years, he has produced and directed over 100 hours of international film and television programs, among them the Australian children’s television series The Curiosity Show, awarded the Gold Medal for best children’s program at the prestigious Prix Jeunesse International in Munich and the highly acclaimed documentary series Voyage Of The Great Southern Ark. James is a Member of the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers, the Australian Directors Guild and an Executive Member of the National Chinese Documentary Film Academy. Last year James produced and directed the documentary, From The Dragon’s Mouth, which was broadcast by BBC World and is currently working on a series of international documentaries and feature films.
PRODUCER/EDITOR – MARK NORFOLK
After years of assisting on some of Australia’s finest feature films of the 70s (Tim Burstall’s Eliza Fraser, Richard Franklin’s Patrick and Fred Schepsi’s Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith), Mark moved to Hong Kong where he worked as an editor on feature films, cinema trailers, tv commercials and documentaries. He has met and collaborated with some of the giants of Asian cinema, including Zhang Yimou. Mark is currently working with James on a series of film projects including a feature documentary entitled ‘Father Joe & the Bangkok Slaughterhouse’.
