Documentary Spotlight Film

Sav Rodgers, 2023, USA, 85 min.
Can a Lesbian have a romantic friendship with a straight, cis man? Especially when that man is portrayed by Ben Affleck?! Let’s get real. Many lesbians of a certain age hated Chasing Amy, Kevin Smith’s 1990’s romcom about a straight white guy who falls in love with a lesbian. Filmmaker Sav Rodgers, a young filmmaker from Kansas, did a Ted Talk about how Chasing Amy literally saved his life. Grappling with his own queerness while suffering bullying, Chasing Amy opened a door for young Rodgers that started his journey to coming out as queer and eventually, trans. Sav gained access to Kevin Smith and Jody Lauren Adams (Amy) who appear to be genuinely engaged in emotional retrospect of the impact of Chasing Amy on the film industry and, pointedly, their own lives. Most surprising is Sav’s interviews with the always delightful Guinevere Turner (Go Fish) who figures prominently both in the documentary and interestingly enough, in Kevin Smith’s journey. Give Kevin Smith credit. He acknowledges that since his movie, there are far better and more authentic LGBTQ films “from the community.” But his film came to Sav at a time when that was not the case, at least in Kansas. And Smith is genuinely moved by the impact his film had for Sav. Is Chasing Amy a retrospective about biphobia? Or is it a straight man’s fantasy that all lesbians just need the right man? At its heart, Sav’s film is an introspective homage to sharing a story without ever knowing who will be forever changed by the telling. (Sunny Hall)

TIGLFF Tampa Jury Award for Best Documentary