Passing

Johnson and O’Hare are passers, detectives who help spirits of the dead pass on into the afterlife. Their latest case appears to be a crossdressing man, but Johnson believes they’re a transgender woman. 

Passing is a queer short film made by a group of new kiwi film-makers. Written and directed by a transgender woman, this 15 minute short seeks to spotlight the tragic mistreatment of transgender people, particularly in death, while embracing the joy that trans people have at being their authentic selves in life.

Passing is written and directed by Tracy Fall Auburn Stokes, better known as just Fall. She’s a transgender woman from Aotearoa New Zealand with a passion for storytelling, media analysis, and the power of art to help people understand each other. She’s a long time writer and first-time director, who has assisted with writing a number of short films, and has on set experience in both lighting and continuity. 

Behind Fall is a team of talented young filmmakers. This includes Katy Brownlee as director of photography, who is another transgender woman lending her experience to aid Fall in the writers room. Briese Ginns and Whitney Feehan are leading the film's production team. Both are recent graduates from South Seas film school, and are eager to bring their extensive talents to both this project and the New Zealand film scene at large.

Passing is a passion project, made by young filmmakers who are early in their careers. We’re looking for funding early in the production process so that we can start putting the film together with a realistic budget in mind from the get go. We’ll be prioritizing our budget in such a way that we cover necessities first, things that allow the film to be made at all, and then covering everything else with whatever money we have left over. 

Our estimated priority order is:

• Equipment costs.
• Location costs.
• Costume and set design.
• On set catering.
• Cast. We intend to advertise the roles as unpaid, but we really want to pay our actors for their hard work if we can, and it may be a necessity if finding volunteers proves difficult.
• Crew. The vast majority of the crew has already volunteered to work on the film unpaid, but if we have the means we would like to pay everyone who’s putting their hard work towards this film!

Passing follows a duo of passers, investigators who seek to aid the lingering spirits of the deceased to pass on into the afterlife. Johnson is still a rookie, working alongside his mentor O’Hare, on the case of Dylan Finch. Autopsy reports state that Dylan is male, but their feminine manner of presentation leads Johnson to believe that they may in fact be a trans woman.

As the investigation progresses, evidence suggests Johnson may be correct, yet the people most closely connected to the case continue to ignore the possibility. Johnson's personal investment grows as it becomes increasingly clear that not only is transphobia impacting the investigation, but that it may have been why the deceased died in the first place.

Passing is written primarily from Fall’s own personal experience and internal emotional struggle. Being a young trans person in an increasingly transphobic world has brought about fear, grief, and anger, but also a desire to express the joy and beauty that make trans people's lives worth protecting. Our team is passionate about these topics, and about the story Fall wants to tell, and so we’re seeking funding to make it happen. 

As mentioned, Passing is a film written from a trans perspective. We live in a time where trans voices are often silenced, and trans lives are often treated as expendable or worse; something to be erased entirely. Every day more and more trans rights are stripped away all over the world, and Aotearoa New Zealand is no different. Now is the time to uplift trans voices.

That said, Passing is not only a story about tragedy. Trans people face tragedy often, but we do still live beautiful and joyous lives. Passing aims to portray this truth as well, in the hope that others will see and remember us trans people as we truly are, and hopefully begin to accept and support us while we still live.