The First Film By, For, And About Asexuals
ASEXY is the first film by, for and about asexuals (or ‘aces’) and is based on the real life experiences of asexual and transgender writer and director, Kylie Aoibheann McDonnell and “is a groundbreaking story of intimacy, desire and growing up.”
A short film about two “aces” and their journey of discovery of themselves and each other, ASEXY was a finalist in the 2020 Queer Screen’s Pitch-Off, with plans for release around the middle of this year.
Star Observer had a chat with up and coming filmmaker Kylie about what it takes to put a short film together, especially compared to the times before COVID-19 changed our lives and we were heartened to hear that certain things have actually improved in the film industry, particularly in terms of finding people to collaborate with and with the more mainstream acceptance and utilisation of services like Skype and Zoom.
“Surprisingly, it’s kind of easier to get a team together, especially since there actually aren’t a lot of productions going ahead, it’s actually kind of a bit easier to get people on board.”
We were also keen to know what goals the production team had for this project once it was finished. And if the film festival route was their next step.
“Our goal for ASEXY, we’ll be sending it to some international festivals particularly those with a queer focus like BFI Flare (an LGBTQIA Film Festival in London) or in Australia like Melbourne Queer Film Festival and Queer Screen because our real goal is that queer audiences both here in Australia and internationally can see it. That’s obviously my dream that asexual people and queer people can see more ace characters on our screens but after its had its festival run it will probably be made available online just so it’s more accessible. But in the long term we’re hoping it can also be a pilot for a larger web series, so we’re also in development for a full season of that!”
Representation On Bojack
Being a huge fan of the animated series Bojack Horseman on Netflix, which features the first reoccurring asexual character in a mainstream series, I was curious to know how the asexual community reacted to that representation in mainstream media (last year’s Spongebob Squarepants Pride discussions not withstanding).
“It really did have a valuable impact on the asexual community to finally have a person who defies those stereotypes of an asexual either being just socially awkward or a villain etc. [The fact] that they are treated as a character with their own desires and with their own flaws, and while it’s not necessarily perfect, it was a massive step forward for the asexual community and you’ll find loads of aces who are really grateful that we finally have a character to see ourselves in”
Fund The Arts!
If you’ve got a bit of cash to spare and you always wanted to support the arts in some way but didn’t know how, here’s the perfect opportunity to contribute to a real world project. ASEXY has a crowd funding page through Australian Cultural Fund (click here to donate) and while most of the budget has been raised via private funds, the crowd funding campaign is about raising the last little bit to get them over the line.
