The Pearl
Synopsis
THE PEARL explores the raw emotional and physical experience of being a middle aged to senior transgender woman against the backdrop of post-industrial logging towns in the Pacific Northwest. The film leans into the struggle of those who were reared and successful as men and have reached middle age or later with a burdensome secret that they can no longer keep. The power of the film lies in the shared experience of vulnerability, the uncomfortable edge that the characters live with everyday as they bravely step out into a world that is not ready to accept them.
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The Filmmakers
Jessica Dimmock Director/Cinematographer
Director/Cinematographer Jessica Dimmock is the recipient of the 2014 Infinity Award for Photojournalist of The Year from the International Center of Photography and the 2013 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest as the director and cinematographer of the Online Feature "Too Young To Wed." In 2010, Dimmock won Kodak's Best Cinematography Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival for WITHOUT. The film premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, received an Independent Spirit Award, and was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award. Dimmock contributed two short films to Doctors Without Borders' Emmy-nominated campaign, "Starved for Attention." Most recently, she worked as photographer and videographer for Emmy-nominated HBO series "The Weight of the Nation."
Christopher LaMarca Director/Cinematographer
Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Christopher LaMarca (Director/Cinematographer) is based in Portland, Oregon. LaMarca has recently entered post-production on his first feature length film, BOONE. In 2012 BOONE was chosen as 1 of 8 films for Film Independent's Documentary Film lab. LaMarca's monograph, "Forest Defenders: The Confrontational American Landscap" was published by PowerHouse Books in 2008. He was chosen to participate in the International Center of Photography's triennial exhibition (2007), New York Photo festival (2009) and Lishui photo festival in China (2010). He reported on environmental and energy issues for magazines such as Rolling Stone, GQ, Fortune, and Newsweek.
Kate Barry Producer
Kate Barry is currently the New York Line Producer for The National Geographic Channel, overseeing over 40 productions globally including "COSMOS" and the Emmy Nominated "Brain Games." She recently Co-Produced the Emmy Nominated "Quiz Ed" for the HBO series "The Weight of the Nation for Kids." Kate has line produced over 100 episodes of television for HGTV, Bravo, and VH1, and worked in London as Film and Music Entertainment's Head of European Co-productions. Her films have screened at festivals around the world including Venice, Berlin, and Toronto.
Festivals & Awards
True/False Film Fest
2016
Official Selection
Hot Docs International Film Festival
2016
Official Selection
DOC NYC
2016
Official Selection
Cinema Eye Honors Awards
2017
Nominee - Spotlight Award
Camden International Film Festival
2016
Official Selection
Reviews
“Focusing very intimately on its four characters, the movie's big hook is that which a scripted filmmaker could barely create: Two of the personalities, Krystal and Jodie, were brothers who, for years, were each gender-fluid unbeknownst to the other ... The film also offers a different kind of close-up at trans identity. The camera is up tight in the women's lives - cooking at home, dancing in a bedroom on vacation - in a way most films rarely have the patience to do...At its best, documentaries allow you to know your neighbor, in Albert Maysles' famous coinage. The audience's eyes almost all opened simultaneously. ”
-LA Times
“Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca’s documentary, which intimately examines the lives of four transgender women in the Pacific Northwest, is a powerful addition to the growing body of cinematic work on the subject.”
-The Hollywood Reporter
“Christopher LaMarca and Jessica Dimmock’s THE PEARL is a nighttime movie, all quiet, warmly illuminated interior spaces. Floating from location to location without definitively marking the passage of time, a fitting match for its subjects.”
-Filmmaker Magazine