At the Cannes Film Festival this year Danielle Lessovitz’s Port Authority became the first film in the festival’s history to have a trans woman of colour—Leyna Bloom—in the leading role. The last one remembers a trans part not played by a cisgender actor was Daniela Vega in A Fantastic Woman . One of last year’s Cannes favourites, Lukas Dhont’s Girl , had a male actor, Victor Polster, playing the trans girl ballerina, a role that won him the Un Certain Regard Jury Award for Best Performance. The debut feature of both Lessovitz and Bloom, and executive-produced by Martin Scorsese, Port Authority , like Girl , also played in the Un Certain Regard section.
About Wye (played by Bloom) and her “siblings”, Port Authority is a deep dive into the New York subculture of the homeless and the underprivileged. It’s about the queer folk on the periphery of the society, and also of voguing (a modern dance form) and the Kiki ballroom culture. It was after the film’s cast had spread all the rainbow colours at the theatre as well as the Croisette and after the film got a long standing ovation, set to voguing beats, at the screening that the international press got to speak with Lessovitz about the politics and identity issues of casting.
Close to character
“It never occurred to me to cast someone cis for the role [of Wye]. I don’t think I would have been able to work with them [cis actors],” she said. Casting a transwoman in the role of a transwoman was not so much a question or an issue for her as much as a requirement of the neo-realistic style of cinema that she believes in and adheres to, “I like to cast people who have some sort of a relationship with the characters… who are very close to the characters and then I rewrite for them.” It was also about having Bloom give direction to the project, like having a conversation with someone who would have had those experiences.
According to Lessovitz, in the USA the conversation is about the fact that there aren’t enough opportunities for people with trans experience to play cisgender roles. And, since there are so few trans roles, why would you let someone who isn’t one play them? Last year, Scarlett Johansson had to drop out of playing a trans man in Rub & Tug , after her casting sparked a backlash of criticism.
In the case of Girl , Nora Monsecour, the Belgian trans female dancer, on whose life the film is based and who collaborated actively on it with Dhont, had defended the film. “It’s a grey area. I don’t think there is an answer. If it’s her story and she feels this person is properly evoking it, that’s [also] important to take note of,” said Lessovitz.
There are only two professional actors in the film. It took a year-and-a-half to cast for the various roles but no workshops were held with the “non-actors”. “We auditioned many and the people that we found were naturally talented. Many of them have ranges. They can play various characters. They are playing versions of themselves [in the film]. So much of their life is about masking their queerness. They can navigate these roles. They are just talented; not trained but good actors.”
Community building
Lessovitz is not a part of the community portrayed in the film. How much did she add to the story by virtue of being the outsider looking in? According to her it was all about being honest about her relationship with the community. She had the chance to be invited, to start engaging with everyone, to feel connected on a human level to many people. “Getting to know all the kids and working on draft after draft after draft [of the script] allowed me take a deep dive into a perspective switch. [Which was about] Being able to decentralise yourself… To break down the rooted structure of one’s perspective; see yourself from someone else’s perspective.” It took Lessovitz three years of engaging every day, every weekend, going to balls, meeting people, researching on queer bodies and cinema. And then a year to write it before rolling the film.
Pop icon Madonna and director Jennie Livingston in the successful but controversial 1990 documentary, Paris Is Burning have depicted the ballroom culture earlier. How have things changed since then? “In terms of representation, from Madonna and Paris is Burning there was this sense of ‘you are profiting off our cultural contributions. [While] We are still struggling, really hurting’. In the community, now there is reluctance to let anyone in, to be exploited again for understanding the history of exploitation from a popular perspective,” said Lessovitz.
According to Lessovitz what they are doing now is vital to a larger conversation. What is being looked for is whether you can create an environment where there is a lot of mutual respect, if permissions are being asked, if the community is being served and you are not just coming in to work with them and leave but making a commitment to them. “[We] tried to honour without capitalising [off them]. Gave the space to them and made sure that the money and everything that comes from the marketplace goes in the right direction,” she said.
Heavy with catharsis
Unlike Leave it on the Floor , the 2011 film set in the ballroom world of Los Angeles, Port Authority , despite the happy dancing is also gloomy. It’s not as sunny as the former. “New York is a rough place. We have seen it in so many different iterations over the years. The NY today, especially for these kids [shown in the film], is very very rough and they have managed to find an escape from that, through the community and the dance. It’s joyful but it doesn’t mean it’s carefree. It’s still heavy with catharsis,” said Lessovitz, quickly reminding us that the NY and LA climates are very different.
Eventually it’s the unusual love story of Wye and Paul (the boy who comes into NY in search of new beginnings, watches her from a distance and finds an instant connect with her) that reaches out—beyond any class, gender and identity divides. Tender, sensitive and sensual, intense and painful, it is primarily about sexual identity issues that the lovers have to confront and resolve. Swinging between the intimacy of desire, ecstasy of dance and fighting the many hindrances posed by the world at large, Lessovitz’s is an empathetic, non-judgmental vision that underscores the power of love.
There’s a broad spectrum of the marginalised communities on view in the film, at the core which is Wye’s proxy, non-biological family that is heartwarmingly loving just as it is heartbreakingly fragile and vulnerable. It’s the hierarchy—who is more, who is less--within the groups that are already on the periphery that is striking. Said Lessovitz: “Sometimes when you are responding to being marginalised you [also] incorporate the distortions of the culture that you are responding to. There are also these heirarchical, toxic elements in there. But we wanted to focus on love, positivity and a sense of family.”
Box: Scorsese legacy
Working with Scorsese was “deeply intimidating” for Lessovitz. He would bring her the support needed and offer creative advice. “It’s incredible that he would lend his time and legacy to young filmmakers like me on these very risky projects and to have the faith that we will really take time and care to do his name justice. He is breaking boundaries in his work and is supportive of other work and it is really admirable”.
