Page 8
January 6, 2016
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
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Kitana Kiki Rodriguez (right) in “Tangerine.”
photo Courtesy
m agnolia p iCtures
Gritty
‘Tangerine’
on My ‘Best of 2015’ List
o PinionAted
J udge
by J udge
d arleen o rtega
2015 has been lauded as a big
year for films and television in-
volving LGBTQ subjects -- with
lots of awards buzz particularly for
“The Danish Girl” (which I wrote
about last week) and “Carol,” the
extremely stylish 1950s lesbian
love story starring the very fine
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara.
While I found much to admire in
both those heavily art-directed,
big-budget films ($15 million and
$11 million, respectively), the
queer story that will end up on
my list of the 10 best films of the
year is the far grittier “Tangerine,”
which had its theatrical release in
July and is now available on DVD
and streaming.
Made on a tiny budget of
$100,000, “Tangerine” is the
quintessentially Hollywood pic-
ture. Shot entirely on iPhone 5s
smartphones equipped with a spe-
cial app and lens equipment, the
story lives in a part of Hollywood
just a short distance from the land
of dreams we typically think of,
but rarely featured or accorded
such dignity and specificity, a
world of sex workers and immi-
grants and others at the margins.
Decisions necessitated by budget
limitations required of the film-
makers ingenuity, flexibility, and
humor very in-keeping with the
qualities required of the two trans
women of color at the center of
this story, and the result is a brac-
ingly realistic look at a commu-
nity too few of us even begin to
understand.
Director Sean Baker – a
self-described cisgender white
male -- makes social realist films
about outsiders, and if this picture
is any indication, he approach-
es those stories in the right way.
Here, he set out to make a film
about the unofficial red-light dis-
trict of Hollywood, which was
near his home but not part of his
experience, and began by walking
those very streets with his co-writ-
er, Chris Bergoch, in search of
a collaborator who could guide
them into the world those streets
contained. The two attracted
mostly indifference and suspicion
until they encountered Mya Taylor
at the local LGBTQ center. She
captured their attention, was in-
trigued by their ideas for the film,
and eventually introduced them
to her friend Kitana Kiki Rodri-
guez. Baker enlisted the two trans
C ontinued on p age 14