Nowhere is queer cinema more prevalent than at film festivals, especially those specifically designed to showcase the talents of our community. Such is the case with the Scottish Queer Film Festival, which took place in Glasgow last September and featured faces both new and established. One such established name is director Kristiene Clarke, whose 1988 documentary for Channel 4 titled Sex Change: Shock! Horror! Probe! was the first trans documentary crafted by a trans director. It follows several trans people in Thatcherite Britain as they attempt to live their lives and push back against the conservative views of their government:
- Adele Anderson, a cabaret star who was outed by the press
- Stephanie Anne Lloyd, a business woman who sold gender affirming products
- Mark Rees, who battled the European Courts to legally be seen as male
- Racheal Webb, an MP seeking to reclaim guardianship of her child after transitioning
I was lucky enough to sit down with Kristiene via video chat to discuss this piece of history.
Beatrice Copland: Can you tell us about what inspired Sex Change: Shock! Horror! Probe! and that really eye-catching title?
Kristiene: Well it started because there was a particular view of the trans community. Channel 4, who were just starting out, really wanted to diversify television. The title was inspired by exposés of the time, things you’d find on the BBC. So it was poking fun, but there was also the aspect that it may draw people in thinking it was one of these exposés.
BC: Obviously, you interview quite a few trans people in the documentary, but I did notice there were more women in it than men. I wondered if that was a deliberate choice or if it was just easier to find trans women who were willing to speak out?
Kristiene: Of course, back in the 80’s, it was more difficult to get in touch with people. It involved research, sending letters, rotary phones, or just turning up on their doorstep. There were people who’d agreed to be a part of it, but, for one reason or another like family pressure, had to drop out. My friend was actually hounded and left the country.
BC: I have noticed that even now, it tends to be majoritively trans women that I do see. I think Elliot Page is the first major trans male celebrity that I’ve come across in my lifetime, and it’s really interesting to me that a documentary shot in the 80’s should feel so current.
Kristiene: Yes, it’s obviously great that the film is getting such a resurgence, but at the same time it’s upsetting to see how little some things have changed. Some things have gotten better of course - there’s all the work that Mark (Rees) did for gender recognition on birth certificates, but there are still the issues with the tabloids.
BC: It’s really interesting to me that you bring up Mark because I was going to ask if you kept in touch with anyone after the documentary.
Kristiene: As much as I could. I’ve made 70 films since then, but I certainly kept close contact for about five years or so. And I’m still friends with Adele (Anderson), of course. We were friends before that, but she’s sadly the only one still alive. Everyone else has passed away, Mark not that long ago. He actually passed the night we were holding a screening. He’d been supposed to attend but sadly told us he couldn’t make it, and we didn’t even know he was unwell.
BC: Oh, that's…that's really sad. It's always sort of melancholic, I think, when these older films get a revival, because so often so many of the people in them aren't with us anymore. But they are almost kept alive, I think, by the film.
Kristiene: Yeah, I think so. I’m actually being joined tonight by my family including my partner.
BC: Oh, that’ll be a lovely family outing. I think it’s definitely a very 80’s film, the big hairdos and the shoulderpads. Also they’re still using the term “transexual” as opposed to “transgender”. There’s this really lovely little moment where Stephanie (Anne Loyd) sort of describes how transgenderism works and how transvestism works, the differences between the two, and I wondered how important it was for you to keep that in the edit.
Kristiene: Very important, and I think especially since it came from Stephanie who had set up her own business with a focus on cross-dressing!
BC: Another massive part of the documentary is the use of Sylvia Plath’s poem “The Applicant,” and I wondered if you’d tell us a bit about that.
Kristiene: It was initially going to be read by Vanessa Redgrave, who’d just done a film about Renée Richards who was a professional tennis player. He played at Wimbledon. It was called Second Serve. So she read for us, but ultimately the scheduling didn’t line up, which is how Tilda Swinton came on board. I met her through Derek Jarman, who I’d known for years, I believe she was his muse at the time. And so she read it, and it was great, but it was almost Vanessa. There’s a funny story there actually - I’m not sure it would be considered very PC these days and she might be cancelled, but she had another title for the film. She said that although it was called Second Serve it was sort of referred to in the dining room as “The Ball’s in the Other Court”.
BC: That is actually hilarious. Let's hope that when we publish this no one, no one goes to track her down or anything.
Kristiene: No, we don’t want anyone turning up on her doorstep. Of course Vanessa has continued to be a great ally, as has Tilda Swinton!
BC: She has. Despite being a phenomenal actress and an incredible talent, she's always willing to speak out for us, which is lovely.
Kristiene: And she did the documentary for free! She didn’t ask for a fee or anything.
BC: Always good to save a little bit on the budget.
Kristiene: Indeed. And who’d have known she’d go on to be such a star? Of course there was something about her, even at the time. She’s always been very talented.
BC: Sex Probe was your debut feature as a documentarian. What sort of lessons did you take away from crafting it?
Kristiene: Integrity. Trust. You need to have a team that you can really trust and get along with.
BC: Those are good things to pass on. Do you happen to have any work or social media you'd like to promote at the moment?
Kristiene: I don’t have social media, although I have friends who keep telling me I should get it. But I feel like it’s for the younger generation. And I think quite a few of my documentaries are available on BBC iPlayer or through Vimeo. I think they should hopefully be easy to track down. I’m actually currently working on a six-part series with Wash Westmoreland about Chevalier d’Eon who was a French spy in the late 1700’s. I’ve been friends with Wash for years, although obviously writing was on hold because of the strikes.
BC: That sounds fascinating. I’ll look for that coming out. And lastly, have you got a final message that you'd like to impart on any of the readers at home?
Kristiene: Keep rocking on!
BC: Amazing. Very inspiring words there.
Words and interview: Beatrice Copland (she/they)
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