Trans ‘Joker’ remake removed from the TIFF due to rights violations
An unofficial remake of The Joker – The People’s Joker – that incorporates a transgender storyline was pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). According to sources, the film wasn’t pulled because of the trans representation, but because the creators of the film didn’t seek appropriate channels for the rights to the film. DC Comics and Warner Bros films are likely the reason this film will not see the light of day at TIFF.
Headlines surrounding this move have alluded that the film was removed because it depicts a trans story. However, the creators of this indie film simply didn’t seek the correct licensing required to move ahead with production legally.
The film calls itself “the illegal comic book movie” and draws on many representations of the Joker and this character’s story and meshes it up into a modern trans retelling. The protagonist in the film is not called ‘The Joker” and is named instead “an unfunny aspiring clown” but the parallels between the two characters are undeniable.
The protagonist navigates issues of gender identity after years of denying herself the space to work through it all and self-medicates with a drug created for the universe the character exists within.
The movie’s own description labels itself as a “queer coming of age Joker origin story… that features the word of over 200 independent artists on three separate continents, all made during a global pandemic.”
The director spoke with Daily Beast and made their opinions about the removal of the film from the festival really clear.
She said she “doesn’t respond well to bullying or pressure from faceless institutions” and the attempt to silence her project “only emboldens me and what I was saying with this film.
“We’re looking for buyers and distribution partners who will protect us and make this film accessible to trans people and their families everywhere.”
Watch the trailer for the film below:
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff! You can read more news here!
