I once performed in a professional production of "Silence!," the musical parody of "Silence of the Lambs." I was cast in a dual role as Fredrica Bimmel and Catherine Martin — the "great big fat person" Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb coveted before murdering and dumping her in a body of water, and the woman he later kidnapped and kept in his basement hole before being rescued by Clarice Starling.
In the movie, Gumb asks Catherine if she's "about a size 14" before kidnapping her. In the musical, he has a hoedown song and dance number titled, "Are You About A Size 14?" featuring lyrics like "If you want to find the one / You need a girl who weighs a ton." I love the show and I loved playing the characters, but I couldn't help but laugh about the ridiculousness of it as I was and continue to be a size 22. In the world of "Silence of the Lambs,...
In the movie, Gumb asks Catherine if she's "about a size 14" before kidnapping her. In the musical, he has a hoedown song and dance number titled, "Are You About A Size 14?" featuring lyrics like "If you want to find the one / You need a girl who weighs a ton." I love the show and I loved playing the characters, but I couldn't help but laugh about the ridiculousness of it as I was and continue to be a size 22. In the world of "Silence of the Lambs,...
- 6/5/2024
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
In a global context described by some as the Golden Age of documentary and by others as the Corporate Age of documentary, the Marché du Film’s Cannes Docs sidebar dedicated its May 20 talk to the question of a “Universal Values System in Documentary: Dismantling Borders for Greater Equity.”
Moderated by Devika Girish, editor of New York-based Film Comment magazine, the high-level panel included Alemberg Ang from Filipino production house Daluyong Studios; Chinese filmmaker and artist Viv Li; Chicken & Egg Pictures Program Director Kiyoko McCrae; and Adam Piron, director of the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program.
Opening the talk, Girish invited panelists to share a documentary they would describe as a model of ethical filmmaking.
For Piron, it was the debut feature of American visual artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka, “Malni – Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore,” an experimental work about the origin of the death myth of the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest.
Moderated by Devika Girish, editor of New York-based Film Comment magazine, the high-level panel included Alemberg Ang from Filipino production house Daluyong Studios; Chinese filmmaker and artist Viv Li; Chicken & Egg Pictures Program Director Kiyoko McCrae; and Adam Piron, director of the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program.
Opening the talk, Girish invited panelists to share a documentary they would describe as a model of ethical filmmaking.
For Piron, it was the debut feature of American visual artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka, “Malni – Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore,” an experimental work about the origin of the death myth of the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest.
- 5/22/2024
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
A frank but endearing documentary makes for a convincing indictment of the corporate machine that says big is bad
Film-maker Jeanie Finlay paints a warm and generous portrait of a sympathetic subject: the American fat activist, podcaster and bestselling author Aubrey Gordon who became a viral sensation for her blog Your Fat Friend, in which she railed against the cruelty – sometimes unintentional and sometimes not – of people who can’t help deriding people like her. Her sprightly, witty, unrepentant arias of complaint earned her a fanbase that included Roxane Gay, James Corden and Adele. But it also got her trolling and vicious abuse.
Gordon tells us of a lifetime enduring cringe-making euphemisms and condescension, as well as taking on the insidious diet industry, which has now rebranded itself the “wellness” industry; she makes a fierce and persuasive case that the diet/wellness racket is a corporate machine that promotes anxieties...
Film-maker Jeanie Finlay paints a warm and generous portrait of a sympathetic subject: the American fat activist, podcaster and bestselling author Aubrey Gordon who became a viral sensation for her blog Your Fat Friend, in which she railed against the cruelty – sometimes unintentional and sometimes not – of people who can’t help deriding people like her. Her sprightly, witty, unrepentant arias of complaint earned her a fanbase that included Roxane Gay, James Corden and Adele. But it also got her trolling and vicious abuse.
Gordon tells us of a lifetime enduring cringe-making euphemisms and condescension, as well as taking on the insidious diet industry, which has now rebranded itself the “wellness” industry; she makes a fierce and persuasive case that the diet/wellness racket is a corporate machine that promotes anxieties...
- 2/7/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Just as there is periodically a glut of fiction films on a particular subject – vampires, restaurant kitchens, queer daughters developing a deeper understanding of their immigrant mothers, etc. – so it can happen in documentary. That filmmakers have finally turned their attention to the subject of fatphobia is a good thing. This profile of the author, podcaster and blogger Aubrey Gordon may reach people who missed the likes of Fattitude and The Body Fights Back because of its subject’s celebrity, but sadly it is one of the less interesting explorations of the topic.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first. Many people wince when they see the word fatphobia. Some of them are the same people who rush to find euphemisms rather than calling their friends fat (Aubrey much prefers honesty). It might wound like the ultimate ‘woke’ nightmare, putting people’s feelings ahead of their health,...
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first. Many people wince when they see the word fatphobia. Some of them are the same people who rush to find euphemisms rather than calling their friends fat (Aubrey much prefers honesty). It might wound like the ultimate ‘woke’ nightmare, putting people’s feelings ahead of their health,...
- 2/3/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Maintenance Phase podcaster was an anonymous blogger before her open letter on fatness went viral. Now the subject of Jeanie Finlay’s documentary Your Fat Friend, she hopes it can reshape the way we discuss bodies
In February 2016, Aubrey Gordon sat at her computer and pressed publish on a blog post. An open letter, it was titled A Request from Your Fat Friend. She decided not to sign it with her name. “I need less sympathy and more solidarity; less pity and more anger,” she wrote, about being denied medical care by doctors, and basic understanding from her thinner friends. Gordon describes herself as a fat woman, who at that time wore a US dress size 26 (about a UK size 30). “If you disapprove of yourself, vivisect your own body, and then compliment me,” she explained in the letter, “I will remember how you talk about both of us.” Within one week,...
In February 2016, Aubrey Gordon sat at her computer and pressed publish on a blog post. An open letter, it was titled A Request from Your Fat Friend. She decided not to sign it with her name. “I need less sympathy and more solidarity; less pity and more anger,” she wrote, about being denied medical care by doctors, and basic understanding from her thinner friends. Gordon describes herself as a fat woman, who at that time wore a US dress size 26 (about a UK size 30). “If you disapprove of yourself, vivisect your own body, and then compliment me,” she explained in the letter, “I will remember how you talk about both of us.” Within one week,...
- 1/26/2024
- by Simran Hans
- The Guardian - Film News
2023 has been one of the most professionally exhilarating years of my life but also one of the hardest. I have been affected deeply by losing Tom Butchart suddenly in June, the childhood friend “the keeper of sacred knowledge and provider of affordable dreams” that I made Sound It Out (my 2011 film) about. We also lost my mother-in-law Pat and documentary titan Jess Search. The impact of these deaths have intertwined with hugely positive experiences that I could never have predicted, leaving me a little discombobulated, determined to live with boldness, albeit with a twinge of melancholy.
In February I received the Chicken & Egg Award, which is given to eight established filmmakers from marginalised genders a year. The recipients form a cohort, are given mentorship, and an unrestricted prize. I spent some of my award going out to New Mexico to experiment with the arts lab at the University of New Mexico...
In February I received the Chicken & Egg Award, which is given to eight established filmmakers from marginalised genders a year. The recipients form a cohort, are given mentorship, and an unrestricted prize. I spent some of my award going out to New Mexico to experiment with the arts lab at the University of New Mexico...
- 12/31/2023
- by Jeanie Finlay
- Directors Notes
“Your Fat Friend” begins with blogger Aubrey Gordon reciting the simple request that elevated her to literary prominence: Just say “fat.” In a viral blog post, she implored her readers to stop tiptoeing around her feelings with a thesaurus full of softer adjectives like “curvy” or “overweight” and simply embrace “fat” as a definitive term. By stripping the word of its negative connotations, she argued, the world might be able to move on from an unproductive conversation about the offensiveness of various terms and focus on finding more tangible ways to help people.
The message resonated with readers around the world. Since launching her “Your Fat Friend” blog in 2015, Gordon has become one of the Internet’s most prominent voices advocating for “fat acceptance.” Highly skeptical of diets, wellness fads, and conventional medical advice, she views many of the struggles faced by fat people as symptoms of a society that ignores their unique needs.
The message resonated with readers around the world. Since launching her “Your Fat Friend” blog in 2015, Gordon has become one of the Internet’s most prominent voices advocating for “fat acceptance.” Highly skeptical of diets, wellness fads, and conventional medical advice, she views many of the struggles faced by fat people as symptoms of a society that ignores their unique needs.
- 12/10/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
A new documentary, Your Fat Friend, details Aubrey Gordon’s journey from blogger to bestselling author. It debuts in the UK early next year.
After premiering at the Tribeca film festival earlier this year, Jeanie Finlay’s latest documentary has finally nailed down a UK release plan. The film arrives in UK cinemas nationally on 9th February, following a preview Q&a tour with Finlay and the film’s subject – author and podcaster Aubrey Gordon – across the UK and Ireland.
Made over six years, the film follows Gordon’s journey into the public eye, as she works to re-configure societal perceptions of fat people and the fat on our bodies.
Director Jeanie Finlay had the following to say about it:
“Experiencing audience reactions to the film I have made as we have toured film festivals around the world has been so moving. People have connected very strongly with Aubrey, her...
After premiering at the Tribeca film festival earlier this year, Jeanie Finlay’s latest documentary has finally nailed down a UK release plan. The film arrives in UK cinemas nationally on 9th February, following a preview Q&a tour with Finlay and the film’s subject – author and podcaster Aubrey Gordon – across the UK and Ireland.
Made over six years, the film follows Gordon’s journey into the public eye, as she works to re-configure societal perceptions of fat people and the fat on our bodies.
Director Jeanie Finlay had the following to say about it:
“Experiencing audience reactions to the film I have made as we have toured film festivals around the world has been so moving. People have connected very strongly with Aubrey, her...
- 12/6/2023
- by James Harvey
- Film Stories
The UK documentary charts the rise of Aubrey Gordon from anonymous blogger to best-selling author.
UK-based sales and distribution firm Together Films has acquired Jeanie Finlay’s documentary Your Fat Friend for international sales.
Together will present the film to buyers at Doc NYC (November 8-26) and IDFA (November 8-19) over the coming weeks.
Your Fat Friend had a world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in June, followed by an international premiere at Sheffield DocFest. Written, directed and produced by UK filmmaker Finlay for her company Glimmer Films, the film charts the rise of writer and activist Aubrey Gordon, from...
UK-based sales and distribution firm Together Films has acquired Jeanie Finlay’s documentary Your Fat Friend for international sales.
Together will present the film to buyers at Doc NYC (November 8-26) and IDFA (November 8-19) over the coming weeks.
Your Fat Friend had a world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in June, followed by an international premiere at Sheffield DocFest. Written, directed and produced by UK filmmaker Finlay for her company Glimmer Films, the film charts the rise of writer and activist Aubrey Gordon, from...
- 11/9/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Your Fat Friend has received a very friendly reception at Sheffield DocFest. The documentary directed by Jeanie Finlay was announced today as the winner of the Audience Award at the prestigious festival in the North of England.
The film came to Sheffield for its international premiere after holding its world premiere at Tribeca Fest on June 8. Both Finlay and the protagonist of the film, Aubrey Gordon, attended DocFest.
Finlay’s film chronicles “the rise of Aubrey Gordon from anonymous blogger (Your Fat Friend) to NYTimes best seller. Her aim? A paradigm shift in the way that we view fat people and the fat on our bodies. The most meaningful change is when her family start listening to her message.”
The 30th edition of Sheffield DocFest concludes today after opening on June 14. More than 4,000 votes were tallied for the Audience Award.
“To bring a film home to Sheff DocFest, a festival...
The film came to Sheffield for its international premiere after holding its world premiere at Tribeca Fest on June 8. Both Finlay and the protagonist of the film, Aubrey Gordon, attended DocFest.
Finlay’s film chronicles “the rise of Aubrey Gordon from anonymous blogger (Your Fat Friend) to NYTimes best seller. Her aim? A paradigm shift in the way that we view fat people and the fat on our bodies. The most meaningful change is when her family start listening to her message.”
The 30th edition of Sheffield DocFest concludes today after opening on June 14. More than 4,000 votes were tallied for the Audience Award.
“To bring a film home to Sheff DocFest, a festival...
- 6/19/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
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