Film by Nikki Manfrin, Bridgette Adam, & Alois Wittwer

Fluidity denotes something of indiscriminate form that is both changeable and adaptable by external influence. This film therefore intends to illustrate how gender should be defined by these same constructs, or, lack of constructs. Whilst Fluid is a highly political film its focus is on poetics and symbolism; intending to remind the audience of their pre-held understanding of fluidity and then apply this to the concept of gender. By projecting what individuals perceive as inherently neutral or fluid coupled personal accounts and anecdotes, the film intends to both educate individuals on gender fluidity but also show how it is less of an abstract thing then they may have perceived.

Click below for a Q&A with the filmmakers.

WHAT WAS YOUR TOPIC FOR EACH FILM?

For Project Brief 4, we insisted that the gender binary is a reductive and harmful label that undermines and dehumanises the most fragile people in our society. Beyond this, Fluid promotes the more or less universally accepted notion that sees flexibility and fluidity as demonstrated in the arts, and movements of the historical world around us, as a beautiful and beneficial state of being. By associating the two both in a visual and aural sense, Fluid represents the logical fallacy of seeing one type of fluidity as beautiful (the historical world) and the other as unnatural (gender).

ANY DIFFICULTIES FACED DURING PRODUCTION IN YOUR APPLICATION OF ‘EXPERIMENTATION’ / POETICS ?

The inherent contradiction of making a film that is celebrating the concept of the nonbinary that will, unavoidably, make binary conclusions just as any cultural form carrying ideological assumptions always does. Finding a way to mystify our assertions in such a way that gives the audience an impression of what it is like to identify as gender nonbinary rather than compartmentalising a concept that does not want to be compartmentalised was difficult.

HOW DID THIS PROJECT CHANGE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF POLITICAL AND POETIC DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING?

This film has enabled us to have a greater understanding of political and poetic documentary as we have managed to capture both within this film. Whilst matters around gender fluidity have become very political, especially lately given the Safe Schools initiative, we have explored this topic in a very poetic way. For instance, in Fluid we use particular evocative colours; pink and blue to illustrate the gender binary (male and female). And, as the anecdotes become clearer and we expect our audience to grasp the idea of ‘fluidity’ it is here we begin to see these colours blend.