Red Without Blue

Some of you remember Todd Sills, from our days in CRC at Northwestern. I believe he lived with Micah in 1-Blue. Is that right?!

Anyway, Todd and his now wife, the lovely and talented Benita (also an NU alum) made an award-winning documentary along with their friend Brooke, called "Red Without Blue". It's playing on the Sundance Channel and also making the festival circuit rounds, as every good film should, and so I had the chance to see it last night!

It's a wonderful documentary, and when I thought about how this was their first project, my head exploded. It's about a set of male twins (Mark and Alex) who, struggling with their sexual identities and their parents' divorce, tailspin into a world of drugs, depression and sexual abuse. After a joint-suicide attempt at the age of 13 I believe, they are split up, and sent to a rehab boarding school, where they don't see each other for 2 years. If that's not traumatic enough, when they reunite, one of them tells the other that he can no longer live his life in a fully masculine role, and that he has decided to live as a transgender person. They are no longer Mark and Alex. They're Mark and Clair.

I was wicked impressed by how they told the story; it was as if an old hand documentary hand had structured it, finding humour when I would have never expected it, which I always think is the hardest thing to do. It's such a well-woven story! The editing was superb. Oh, and the music! It's a testament to the doc that the amazing Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) GAVE them pieces of his music to use in their film.


I'm gushing I know. But I was so proud! And inspired. And since everything is always about me (!) I'm trying to figure out if I have the balls to go out on a limb, like they did, and make a film. The Sills have cojones. And I have cojones envy.

RedWithoutBlue website

-x-
aarti