Filmmaker Tourmaline announces short films that will honor 19th century trans woman Mary Jones

By Shannon Miller  |  April 26, 2019 | 8:21pm
Aux News Mary Of Ill Fame
Filmmaker Tourmaline announces short films that will honor 19th century trans woman Mary Jones
Photo: Matthew Eisman

Filmmaker Tourmaline, who co-directed Happy Birthday, Marsha!, announced a set of short films that will tell the story of Mary Jones, a trans sex worker who lived in New York during the 19th century. Both Salacia and Mary Of Ill Fame will be produced by Keanu Reeves. Tourmaline announced the projects – both of which she wrote, directed, and produced – via an Instagram post.

Salacia is a 6-minute looping film that will play at the Brooklyn Museum May 10-July 3 as part of Nobody Promised You Tomorrow, an exhibition commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Mary Of Ill Fame, which will premiere later this year, will be a 25-minute short that’ll likely shed more light (and humanity) on the lightly documented life of Jones who, as the filmmaker cited in her post, made her “wayward way out of no way in New York City.” Both works will take place in Seneca Village and will star Rowin Amone.

[Via Out]

 
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