Oscilloscope Laboratories Presents: No Ordinary Man

The Center, in partnership with Oscilloscope Laboratories, presents a special screening of the acclaimed documentary film “No Ordinary Man,” an in-depth look at the life and legacy of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Complicated, beautiful, and historically unrivaled, this groundbreaking film shows what is possible when a community collaborates to honor an unlikely hero. Following the film please join us for a talk with directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt as well as a reception.
ABOUT THE FILM
For decades, the life of American jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the sensationalistic story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. Now that history gets re-interrogated by trans artists as they try to reimagine Tipton’s life through acts of performance, reclaiming him as a trans icon. Filmmakers Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt join Tipton’s adopted son to reckon with Tipton’s complicated and contested legacy. “‘No Ordinary Man’ is an elegant riff on a classic progression that arrives at something transcendent.” (Indiewire)
Aisling Chin-Yee (Co-Director, Co-Writer, Editor)
Aisling Chin-Yee is an award-winning producer, writer, and director based in Montreal, Canada. Aisling was named one of Canada’s Rising Film Stars by Now Magazine 2019. Her feature film directorial debut, The Rest of Us, starring Heather Graham (Boogie Nights, The Hangover), and Sophie Nélisse (The Book Thief) premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2019. Aisling also produced the award-winning feature film Rhymes For Young Ghouls; Last Woman Standing; and The Saver among others. 2014 marked her year as writer and director with the short film, Sound Asleep. In 2015, she directed the multi-award-winning documentary Synesthesia.
In 2017, she co-founded the #AfterMeToo movement. In 2018 she was selected in the inaugural cohort of professionals in the 50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment in Hollywood. In 2019, Aisling received the TIFF Canning Fellowship.
Chase Joynt (Co-Director)
Chase Joynt is a transgender moving-image artist and writer whose films have won jury and audience awards internationally. His latest short film, Framing Agnes, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, won the Audience Award at Outfest in Los Angeles, and is being developed into a feature film with support from Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program. Awarded the EP Canada/Canada Film Capital Award for Emerging Canadian Artist, Joynt’s first book You Only Live Twice (co-authored with Mike Hoolboom) was a 2017 Lambda Literary Award Finalist and named one of the best books of the year by The Globe and Mail and CBC.
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. ET
Screening at 7 p.m. ET
$10 Suggested Donation