Sold out !Sold out !Sold out !Sold out !Sold out !Sold out !
"I had a dream"
From left to right, Director Shelly Prevost, Assitant Director Heidi Verlaine, Composer Lars Hidde standing by the poster for "Trained in the Ways of Men"
When I heard that another transgender youth, Gwen Araujo, had been murdered, I was deeply saddened. I had been working for over 4 years trying to prevent these types of incidents. I had not been very successful. Here I was reading about yet another life cut short, another mother crying and another family devastated. The media again was not talking about why Gwen Araujo found herself in that situation that night. They focused on sensationalizing what they though was Gwen's deceit. The media was saying that she had “tricked” the men into thinking that "he" was a woman.
I wanted to tell the world what was happening from the view point of a transgender person. I wished that I could make a movie. But I didn’t have any filmmaking experience. I didn’t own a mini DV camera. Still I decided that day that I would do it!. I bought a camera and I started taking filmmaking classes. I used all my vacation time to film what I could of the trials and I interviewed everyone involved with the case. I was working full time, so the only time that I could edit was late at night or on the weekends. If I wasn't editing, I was taking night classes to learn how to make movies.
I have a movie.
People lined up all the way out to Second Street to see "Trained in the Ways of Men" The Rep was sold out for both showings.
There were many nights that I would be editing a sad piece and would find myself crying along with the people in the video clip. I sat there wondering if anyone would ever watch this movie? Four years later when I finally finished ,I decided to submit to Cinequest. What better place to have the premiere than San Jose, where Gwen’s family and most of the people who knew Gwen lived.
Will people come to see the movie?
Sylvia Guerrero and Director Shelly Prevost talking with the media about the movie and transgender issues.
Friday, the day before the premiere, Cinequest held a press conference for our movie. Sylvia Guerrero ( Gwen’s mother ) and I faced at least ten broadcast media cameras and many print media. They wanted to hear what we had to say. That night we were on every major TV station in the Bay Area. The Mercury News printed a half page article about Gwen, me and the movie. Bruce Newman from the Mercury News and Steve Palopoli of the Metro gave it excellent reviews.
We have a voice.
March 10, 2007. San Jose Repetory Theatre, 500 hundred seat sell out crowd.
It was my dream to make a movie that would explain gender identity, to reduce the incidents of violence against gender non-conforming people. I was so worried that after all this work of making this movie, nobody would come. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the line for the movie. Both shows were a sell out! It was so incredible. So rewarding. It was a dream come true.
Now will people listen?