Queer Canadian Artist, Musician and Filmmaker Françoise Doherty
was in Paris last week to present her latest experimental short animated movie,
the 4th episode of the Girl Bunnies series at Cineffable Film Festival
and I jumped on the occasion to discuss her work with her.
I have been familiar with her work from the start, the very 1st episode of Les Lapines
(The Girl Bunnies) which I saw when it came out back in 2008
and it was so unusual and soft and surprising that it stayed with me.
Every time a new episode came out I looked for it.
It is not strange then that I was very happy to meet with her when she was here for a very short French visit and eager to find out more about her life, creativity, aspirations and objectives.
What follows derives partially from our discussions and partially from my own analysis, appreciation and understanding of her work so this article will be partly interview with the artist and partly my own critical overview.
I know she has a lot of work behind her but I am not familiar with it so I shall concentrate on what I know, back to the Girl Bunnies series once more .
I remember the strong impact the soundtrack had on me the first time.
It was like a Star Trek Ship crossing over to another Universe on a mental and aesthetic level
or like a door opening instantly to a blinding new dimension who's existence I ignored up to that second but I could now see at all times,
it opened up my mind like an Indian guru and it left it open,
both my mind and that new dazzling dimension invisible before
but overwhelmingly present now
and this sensation stayed with me all these years
and repeated itself every time I saw a new film.
So we can say her Girl Bunnies have a strong emotional and intuitive impact on me,
they are a sort of musical meditation.
It is so rare to have such an affinity with an artist and I am privileged to have found one
who makes me feel that way.
Back to basics.
The soundtrack is so unique it cannot but be the core,
the departure point for the whole animated story.
The music dominates by colouring the feelings of this voyage of discovery she wants to tell us about, discovery of love, alterity, diversity, sexual identity,
self-acceptance and respect of others.
was in Paris last week to present her latest experimental short animated movie,
the 4th episode of the Girl Bunnies series at Cineffable Film Festival
and I jumped on the occasion to discuss her work with her.
I have been familiar with her work from the start, the very 1st episode of Les Lapines
(The Girl Bunnies) which I saw when it came out back in 2008
and it was so unusual and soft and surprising that it stayed with me.
Every time a new episode came out I looked for it.
It is not strange then that I was very happy to meet with her when she was here for a very short French visit and eager to find out more about her life, creativity, aspirations and objectives.
What follows derives partially from our discussions and partially from my own analysis, appreciation and understanding of her work so this article will be partly interview with the artist and partly my own critical overview.
I know she has a lot of work behind her but I am not familiar with it so I shall concentrate on what I know, back to the Girl Bunnies series once more .
I remember the strong impact the soundtrack had on me the first time.
It was like a Star Trek Ship crossing over to another Universe on a mental and aesthetic level
or like a door opening instantly to a blinding new dimension who's existence I ignored up to that second but I could now see at all times,
it opened up my mind like an Indian guru and it left it open,
both my mind and that new dazzling dimension invisible before
but overwhelmingly present now
and this sensation stayed with me all these years
and repeated itself every time I saw a new film.
So we can say her Girl Bunnies have a strong emotional and intuitive impact on me,
they are a sort of musical meditation.
It is so rare to have such an affinity with an artist and I am privileged to have found one
who makes me feel that way.
Back to basics.
The soundtrack is so unique it cannot but be the core,
the departure point for the whole animated story.
The music dominates by colouring the feelings of this voyage of discovery she wants to tell us about, discovery of love, alterity, diversity, sexual identity,
self-acceptance and respect of others.
And this voyage of discovery is an universal one,
transcending all difference, valid for all.
(c) F.Doherty, mail male bunny
transcending all difference, valid for all.
Françoise Doherty in life is a teacher and a single gay mother of two teenage daughters so when she started the Girl Bunnies series almost 10 years ago (back in 2007) the world was a very different place and her children were very young. So inevitably they were bullied at school at times because of their gay mother. She wanted to protect her family from harassment and discrimination but at the same time she also wanted to educate young children - who will become future adults and who remain at that age quite open and accepting - on issues of diversity, hetero-normative prejudice, divergent sexual identities and respect of lgbtqi people and their rights.
(c) F.Doherty, Space Girl and Earth Girl
As we say now in popular acceptance of queer identity and culture
in our post-Glee, post-Ellen Page coming out, post-queer cyberspace explosion,
some people "are born this way",
they are just people who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual,
queer or inter-sex and as they tell us, well, "I am gay, get over it".
Unapologetic gayness without an immediate physical or mental threat
attached to it is a recent cultural shift.
in our post-Glee, post-Ellen Page coming out, post-queer cyberspace explosion,
some people "are born this way",
they are just people who happen to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual,
queer or inter-sex and as they tell us, well, "I am gay, get over it".
Unapologetic gayness without an immediate physical or mental threat
attached to it is a recent cultural shift.
It was time, of course.
But still, it is not possible to exhibit it,
this cool anapologetic gayness in public without attracting unwanted attention in many places, countries, even in private or semi protected areas.
It is still not that well accepted, gayness.
People are cool when they talk about it but deep down they find it queer, not "queer" as a compliment but as in "strange".
Homophobia is in our cells and bones, in our brains and in our hearts.
Sexual minorities deal with it in unity and numbers
but the world remains a non-inclusive place.
Not only about sexual orientation, of course.
I don't need to talk about race or poverty, gender or age,
the North-South rift or the cultural and resources accessibility difference
and I was not going to.
We are all painfully aware like an itch on our face that never quite goes away.
But as I was actually writing this last night, (the 8th of November 2016 and in Paris,
at plus 6 hours difference than NY),
when the American Presidential Elections were taking place,
I was so convinced that come what may no way Trump was going to win.
Was I right? No, I wasn't.
If Trump won it is because he lied to scared stupid people. His win will be his downfall.
But it tells us how much hatred, ignorance and intolerance are out there
and how much we need lucid thought, clear vision and a creative talent
and commitment to try to change people's hard hearts.
I lost it.
I must be upset and surprised.
I was trying to talk about what was happening back in 2008 homophobia-wise.
Not good.
Worse than now.
Even if Trump has been elected, people have shifted in their own heads, prejudices are falling down like autumn leaves.
That's history.
Slow but dialectic, inevitable and transformative.
Back to our topic, to Françoise in a small Canadian town as a queer-identified single mother. Hard, harsh, isolated, difficult.
But Art and Music could change that.
Break the prejudice and isolation of this "atypical" family and seduce by beauty potential enemies into allies.
Transform the world by beauty and a positive utopia of love.
Even of a girl to girl love, if this is what you happen to prefer.
But it was not easy back almost 10 years ago when the first Girl Bunnies was produced.
But it got produced.
And liked.
And won prizes.
And made people of all ages smile and sing and laugh and change attitudes.
So we can say that is more inclusive now, parents of trans children now contact Françoise
at school to ask her to put trans characters in her films.
Yeah! Little Snoopy dance.
Cannot stop progress I guess, even if it is a queer rainbow one.
But still, it is not possible to exhibit it,
this cool anapologetic gayness in public without attracting unwanted attention in many places, countries, even in private or semi protected areas.
It is still not that well accepted, gayness.
People are cool when they talk about it but deep down they find it queer, not "queer" as a compliment but as in "strange".
Homophobia is in our cells and bones, in our brains and in our hearts.
Sexual minorities deal with it in unity and numbers
but the world remains a non-inclusive place.
Not only about sexual orientation, of course.
I don't need to talk about race or poverty, gender or age,
the North-South rift or the cultural and resources accessibility difference
and I was not going to.
We are all painfully aware like an itch on our face that never quite goes away.
But as I was actually writing this last night, (the 8th of November 2016 and in Paris,
at plus 6 hours difference than NY),
when the American Presidential Elections were taking place,
I was so convinced that come what may no way Trump was going to win.
Was I right? No, I wasn't.
If Trump won it is because he lied to scared stupid people. His win will be his downfall.
But it tells us how much hatred, ignorance and intolerance are out there
and how much we need lucid thought, clear vision and a creative talent
and commitment to try to change people's hard hearts.
I lost it.
I must be upset and surprised.
I was trying to talk about what was happening back in 2008 homophobia-wise.
Not good.
Worse than now.
Even if Trump has been elected, people have shifted in their own heads, prejudices are falling down like autumn leaves.
That's history.
Slow but dialectic, inevitable and transformative.
Back to our topic, to Françoise in a small Canadian town as a queer-identified single mother. Hard, harsh, isolated, difficult.
But Art and Music could change that.
Break the prejudice and isolation of this "atypical" family and seduce by beauty potential enemies into allies.
Transform the world by beauty and a positive utopia of love.
Even of a girl to girl love, if this is what you happen to prefer.
But it was not easy back almost 10 years ago when the first Girl Bunnies was produced.
But it got produced.
And liked.
And won prizes.
And made people of all ages smile and sing and laugh and change attitudes.
So we can say that is more inclusive now, parents of trans children now contact Françoise
at school to ask her to put trans characters in her films.
Yeah! Little Snoopy dance.
Cannot stop progress I guess, even if it is a queer rainbow one.
But surprise surprise: The Girl Bunnies are hiding behind the obvious animated tale for children and it is to all of us they want to talk about the magic, poetic and often impossible dream of love, of finding the proverbial, the mythical soul mate.
And the artist finds it in the 'girl loves girl' Bunny Land utopia.
These are happy girl bunnies in successful happy ends in a world
where love and happiness are possible for all,
girls who love girls included.
where love and happiness are possible for all,
girls who love girls included.
This happy ending dreamland pushes the utopia to our demanding hearts through the soundtrack of the experimental animated films Françoise loves to make,
straight into us while we are staring unaware at a children movie
and when we see the Girl Bunnies doing miracles of self-knowledge, negotiation,
making and fixing mistakes, well, you understand that Françoise Doherty
has a similar objective to Shakespearean sonnets in mind:
decline, uncover and transmit all the different moments,
all this colourful rainbow of emotions which compose love.
straight into us while we are staring unaware at a children movie
and when we see the Girl Bunnies doing miracles of self-knowledge, negotiation,
making and fixing mistakes, well, you understand that Françoise Doherty
has a similar objective to Shakespearean sonnets in mind:
decline, uncover and transmit all the different moments,
all this colourful rainbow of emotions which compose love.
The artist is a sort of deconstructed exploded primary and primal
unarticulated queer lady-Shakespeare in Love,
sharing her treasures with all of us but not with words nor images
but with the naked colour of sounds she looks for and experiments with.
She tries to uncover a whole elementary alphabet of sound colour,
seen as emotional variation of all feelings connected to love,
and find how to codify and express them as direct sound-colour.
To my opinion, she succeeded from the very first Girl Bunnies story,
Les Lapines ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwS1NkXmmeE)
and continued to gratify and surprise us in the 3 follow ups,
(Hockey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC0nKKM57c&t=56s,
Big Tree, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC0nKKM57c&t=56s
and The Girl Bunny Rocketship,
as yet unreleased on U Tube at least so I do not have the link),
more complex in storyline and characters and longer too
but all united by her unique palette of sound and voice
combined to a tender animated storyline,
what can I say, I am addicted from the very start,
I like the pace, the staccato, the dissociation of image and sound,
this refreshing dyslexia of the two elements
that are supposed to come together and say the same thing
but they don't.
unarticulated queer lady-Shakespeare in Love,
sharing her treasures with all of us but not with words nor images
but with the naked colour of sounds she looks for and experiments with.
She tries to uncover a whole elementary alphabet of sound colour,
seen as emotional variation of all feelings connected to love,
and find how to codify and express them as direct sound-colour.
To my opinion, she succeeded from the very first Girl Bunnies story,
Les Lapines ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwS1NkXmmeE)
and continued to gratify and surprise us in the 3 follow ups,
(Hockey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC0nKKM57c&t=56s,
Big Tree, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trC0nKKM57c&t=56s
and The Girl Bunny Rocketship,
as yet unreleased on U Tube at least so I do not have the link),
more complex in storyline and characters and longer too
but all united by her unique palette of sound and voice
combined to a tender animated storyline,
what can I say, I am addicted from the very start,
I like the pace, the staccato, the dissociation of image and sound,
this refreshing dyslexia of the two elements
that are supposed to come together and say the same thing
but they don't.
And Love is Love.
What she says is valid for Love, Universal Love, Love with a capital L,
all Sexualities, Genders, Identities included.
What she says is valid for Love, Universal Love, Love with a capital L,
all Sexualities, Genders, Identities included.
This is what makes her a Classic,
not only a Queer Artist,
not only a Child Educator
but a Music Poet
speaking inarticulately in anarchic primary sounds
to the Universal Human Soul.
not only a Queer Artist,
not only a Child Educator
but a Music Poet
speaking inarticulately in anarchic primary sounds
to the Universal Human Soul.
So, Stand Still.
And listen and enjoy a distilled pure emotion from the outer space of shared love, courageous girl bunnies in love with each other and a rain of happy endings.
Dramatically needed in a time
when Donald Trump has just been elected President.
Today.
Do I need to say more about how much we need tolerance,
dignity, self-respect and truth?
Merci Dieu pour l'art!
Dramatically needed in a time
when Donald Trump has just been elected President.
Today.
Do I need to say more about how much we need tolerance,
dignity, self-respect and truth?
Merci Dieu pour l'art!
The Girl Bunnies can be found on You Tube under this title, LINKS in the body of the article.
The Artist with me in Paris last week where Françoise Doherty presented her forth episode in the Girl Bunnies series during the Cineffable festival at Espace Reuilly from the 28th of October to the 1st of November.
Cineffable film festival site info and list of films:
A gorgeous piece of writing. Articulate, poetic and so very timely. Thank you Haris Metaxa for the philosopher's perspective on art, music, queerness and politics. You've created an incredible tale that uncovers The Girl Bunnies and given them a place in the world that feels like they belong.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly do belong, as we all do, in a better version of reality, better but not impossible and always available to us all, as long as Art and Love exist and carry us forward. Keep it up, what you and everybody else who's is sincere, truthful and committed is doing, is not only beautiful, graceful and poetic, it is actually absolutely necessary. Now and always. It crosses time and it is always fresh and beautiful like the Eternal Spring breeze.
ReplyDelete