Making a documentary on the meaning of ‘queer’
Inspired by my non-heterosexual friends in China, I decided to do a Master’s course in film at University of Birmingham in order to get prepared for my film-making on ‘queer’ matters in the future. My own sexuality has always been a puzzle, partly due to lack of both the awareness in my home country and definitions of different sexualities in my mother tongue. However, when I first came to England, I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed by the enormous number of terms used to define different sexualities and gender identities other than just ‘Les’, ‘Gay’, ‘Bi’ and ‘Trans’.
In some ways I was pleased at the idea that I could finally find a term to describe my sexuality – queer – but the variety of terms was also frustrating. I couldn’t help but start questioning the existence and use of these terms that are often seen in pride parades and other cultural activities. Through chatting with LGBT people, including some that belonged to Birmingham-based societies, I found that people had strong feelings about whether and why the label ‘queer’ should be used. It made perfect sense to me, therefore, to decide to make a documentary for my course exploring different people’s views on LGBT or “queer” as a label. In my documentary, I aim to find out whether these terms are representative of this vast non-heterosexual minority, and ultimately to call on people to re-think their own ideas of labels and representativeness.
The opportunity of filming the 2015 SHOUT festival kick-started my project. Besides enjoying a day of amazing activities, I met with a broad group of LGBTQ people and artists, many of whom were so kind as to offer help for my documentary, especially Ian Hyde, the organizer and coordinator of the event. Filming the the University of Birmingham’s launch of LGBT History Month 2016 was another great experience, as I had the chance to interview Dame Julie Moore, the CEO of University Hospitals Birmingham, as well as members of the Birmingham Rainbow Choir and participants of the event, plus enjoying an amazing documentary: The Queen of Ireland.
My plan for the coming months is to meet with more members from our university’s LGBTQ society, academics and and individuals who are aware of their non-heterosexual orientation. I’m also working on getting permission to film Birmingham Pride. As well as refining my own filming technique, being able to get in touch with people of different opinions who then shape my own views has been the most interesting part of the experience of making the documentary.
At the moment, I’m still in discussion with my professor on the form my documentary would take while trying to get more people involved as contributors. If you are interested in sharing your views, contributing to the documentary or simply helping out, you’re welcome to drop an email to me at [email protected]. I hope that more people like me, whether confused or certain about their own sexuality, can have their voices heard on the matter. Hopefully my final ideas can find their way to a broader audience as I’m planning to screen the film after my graduation this year.
Elena Tang
Student, MA Film and Television: Research and Production, University of Birmingham
[email protected]
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