Directed by Andrew Klaus-Vineyard and Daniel Talbott, in intimate interviews, filmmakers explore how adverse circumstances — including lack of resources and political and cultural hatred for the LGBTQ+ community — have always fuelled the community’s filmmaking power and resilience. Shot largely over one raucous day at a backyard BBQ in North Hollywood, the film gathers sixteen filmmakers to kiki on craft, survival, and the joy of making work no matter what.
Featuring: Liam Calvert, Iris Dukatt, Annale Fiachi, KC Fralick, Javier Fuentes- Leon, Cheri Gaulke, Ashley Gianni, Jonathan Hammond, Sydne Horton, Joey Milberg, Giancarlo Nasi, Erblin Nushi, Saul Ornelas, MT Peralta, Tyler C. Peterson, Jackson Smith, Wendy Wang and Rev. Micah Bucey.
The opening scenes of Stand Tall Go Higher tell you pretty much everything you need to know. To start in this very traditional manner, which is so lovingly reminiscent of filmmaking docs, then transitioning to a bubbly, friendly, cute roll call of all the filmmakers involved in the film is such a lovely choice. It’s a simple thing but it perfectly encapsulates the energy and atmosphere of the documentary.
Within Stand Tall Go Higher’s just over sixty minutes there are several key points: how to get queer films made, the struggle that entails, why it’s important to make them, what they stand for and celebrating queer cinema past and present. From each of the filmmakers you see what sparks their enthusiasm, what seeing queer stories on screen means to them, and their methods for getting through the struggle. Within all of that, there’s one ever-present quality: passion. It’s a perfect portrayal of the indie spirit and how queer cinema is effervescently built upon passion of many different kinds, from many different backgrounds and many different budgets.
The style which Andrew Klaus-Vineyard and Daniel Talbott employ is simple, casual and conversational. They allow these filmmakers the space to give their two cents, and they’re edited together (by Noah Larsen) very well to create a natural flow to the film. The filmmakers also choose to use archive footage from familiar figures to accent those conversations. Especially when delving into the question of how do we get queer cinema into the mainstream? Which in today’s political landscape is a very relevant discussion.
Stand Tall Go Higher is a wonderful celebration of queer film and queer filmmakers. Encapsulating the classic independent spirit, and that when it comes to getting queer film made, you have to just go for it and embrace the low budget and time crunch. There are some great references to memorable pieces of queer cinema, not all of them everyone will have seen, so have your watchlist at the ready. The nod to Rossy de Palma who is a queer icon in her own right is a nice touch, as well as one particularly surprising addition coming from Rev. Micah Bucey which is a fantastically original choice. It’s simple, honest, passionate and scrappy, a quality which is absolutely synonymous with indie film.
Verdict: ✯✯✯✯ | 8/10
For more info visit standtallgohigher.com
A quick side note: With the aim of Stand Tall Go Higher being to celebrate queer cinema, a lovely thing would be for anyone writing about it, like myself, to recommend their own underrated queer film picks. I would throw in Harry Dodge and Silas Howard’s By Hook or by Crook and Juliet Bashore’s Kamikaze Hearts, two films that I discovered on re-release, which demonstrates why it’s so important to not just keep making new queer work but to also give viewers more opportunities to see the work which paved the way for those new films, something this documentary also nicely highlights. Be sure to also keep an eye out for Andrew Klaus-Vineyard and Daniel Talbott’s short film Welcome to Tool Shed.
