The Believers

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Believers, The

Todd Holland 2006 80 min. USA

Price $250.00

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Recipient of the Frameline 30 Audience Award for Best Documentary and of a 2005 Frameline Film & Video Completion Fund grant, The Believers is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, gender, and religion. Built around the world's first transgender gospel choir, the film portrays the choir's dilemma - how to reconcile their gender identity with the widespread belief that changing one's gender goes against the word of God.

Set against the story of the Transcendence Gospel Choir's founding, the documentary reveals the lives of its members, including Tom, once a radical lesbian feminist; Ashley, choir founder and professional sound engineer; and Bobby, a recovering drug addict and former sex worker. The film takes us from the Transcendence Gospel Choir's shaky beginnings - a heartwarmingly chaotic, cacophonous group unable to agree on much of anything, arguing over appropriate wardrobe and learning to sing with transitioning voices - through their transformation into the polished, award-winning choir and close-knit family they are today, garnering major performances and winning an Outmusic Award in 2004 for the album Whosoever Believes.

The intimate personal stories shed light on the complexity of balancing social change, family history, religion and identity. At the heart of their dilemma is a struggle for acceptance within two worlds historically at odds with one another. As one of the film's subjects eloquently says, "I'm living in a window. I get to see both sides."

The Believers is a unique story of determination and perseverance and an important look at the intricacy and diversity of spirituality and the LGBT community.

For more information about the Transcendence Gospel Choir, please visit their website

Jury Award, Best Transgender Film, Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Audience Award, Best Full Length Documentary, Long Island Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Frameline Film & Video Completion Fund Grant

Audeince Award, Best Documentary, San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival

Runner-up, Elle Flanders Documentary Award for Best Documentary Film or Video, Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival

". . .director Todd Holland's The Believers offers a rousing, compelling portrait of the most unique performers in contemporary Christian music: San Francisco's Transcendence Gospel Choir, the world's first (and, to date, only) professional gospel choir consisting of transgendered singers ... the true power of The Believers lies in watching this diverse mix of personalities unite into a single force of spiritual musicality - even though, at times, the disagreements between members makes the film feel like a cross-dressing gospel version of Let It Be. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."
      -Video Librarian

"The Believers provides a unique teaching tool for faith communities to begin to understand the lives and struggles of transgender people from a faith-based perspective."
      -The Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing

"...at heart an old-fashioned success story - through hard work, adversity and perseverance, the choir finds itself reaching unexpected heights. While charting the course of the choir, The Believers also delves into the personal histories of some of the choir members, both male-to-female and female-to-male. These provide some of the films most emotional moments, from Ashley's harrowing tale of escaping from her shotgun-carrying father to Bobbie Jean's visit to her ambivalent-yet-loving Memphis family. The look on Bobbie Jean's aunt's face when she realizes that there are also women who become men is priceless."
      -Metro Weekly

"Music soothes the savage beast, and in this case, that beast is intolerance... Despite the difficulties of their daily lives, the chorus members look to the music and the ministry of singing to help heal themselves and their audiences. Transcendence is made up of both male-to-female and female-to-male transgender people, which makes the squabbles between gay men and lesbians seem paltry in comparison to the ability of this mixed gender group (in more ways than one) to focus and get along...After numerous rehearsals, the chorus' sound finally clicked (in the early days, the non-transgender conductor said, "God, they can't sing. How am I gonna do this?"). They even performed at the United Church of Christ's 2003 international synod, also testifying before a committee on the necessity of including transgender inclusive and affirming language as part of the church rhetoric. (In a triumphant moment for the chorus and for transgender Christians, this measure did pass.) Music made inroads where regular speech failed, allowing them to become part of a decision-making body that, because of their voices, sent a landmark message to churches and Christians around the world. Now, that's a good tune."
      -The Washington Blade

"The Believers was shown at Lincoln Congregational Temple United Church of Christ, an historic African-American congregation dating back to the mid 19th century which is being revitalized as a multiracial, multicultural, Open and Affirming ministry. Lincoln Temple worked in partnership which a number of other churches and groups...About 100 people turned out for the screening, including clergy and leaders from many of the partner groups and churches. The audience was very vocal and demonstrative in response to the film and erupted into applause at the conclusion...The comments/discussion from the audience mostly focused on admiration for Transcendence and also for the United Church of Christ and its witness of justice regarding LGBT persons and All God's Children. I hope that our showing helps to generate more interest in this wonderful film. I think our showing was meaningful to many, based on the audience reaction and emails I have received before the showing and after. One can't ask for much more than that. Blessings & Shalom..."
      -Deacon Charles Keener, Lincoln Congregational Temple United Church of Christ

"The Believers is a fascinating and sympathetic exploration of the very complex relationships between the members of the Transcendence Gospel Choir - a powerful ambassador for the gay, lesbian and transgender community. In 2003 the General Synod of the United Church of Christ, a coalition of some 6600 Christian churches, invited the choir to perform and testify at their annual meeting. The Synod passed two resolutions, one affirming transgender ministry and the second denouncing violence directed at the transgendered. Shortly after this seminal event, the group's CD Whosoever Believes won the 2004 Outmusic award for 'Outstanding New Recording-Chorus or Choir.' The Believers is an intimate look at a segment of society who is either scorned or about whom many are simply ignorant. This revealing and enlightening documentary should go a long way toward ameliorating this situation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED."
      -Patricia B. McGee, Coordinator of Media Services, Volpe Library & Media Center, Tennessee Technological University, for EMRO (Educational Media Reviews Online).

Read the entire review HERE

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African American/Black Studies
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Holland, Todd
2006