Joshua M. Ferguson
| Joshua M. Ferguson | |
|---|---|
| File:Joshua M. Ferguson 2016.jpgJoshua M. Ferguson 2016.jpg | |
| Born | 1982 (34 years old) Brantford, Ontario, Canada |
| 💼 Occupation | Filmmaker, writer, scholar, and activist |
| 📆 Years active | 2007 - present |
Joshua M. Ferguson (born 1982) is a Canadian non-binary, trans filmmaker, writer, scholar, and activist.
Early life[edit]
Ferguson was born in Brantford, Ontario and raised in Greater Napanee, Ontario.[1] Ferguson first came out as queer when they were 14 and experienced serious bullying, discrimination and bigotry at a young age, subject to homophobia and transphobia.
Joshua has harnessed these experiences to help others with the powerful reach of cinematic messages, which offer hope, visibility and forms of fantastical and inspirational escapes to marginalized people.
Career[edit]
Film[edit]
Ferguson has produced two short films to date. Their first film was Whispers of Life, in 2013.[2] The film follows the story of Tom, a gay teenager, who is bullied by homophobic classmates in a park. A man sitting close by sees the bullying, and appears right next to him. The two strike up a conversation that quickly turns serious when Tom asks if Charles has ever thought about suicide. From there, a magical story occurs exploring these themes.[3]
Whispers of Life has been selected by 21 film festivals around the world including festivals in the US, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, India and Australia. Whispers of Life has also been awarded both the Audience Choice and Jury Choice Awards at the 26th Reel Pride Winnipeg Film Festival, the Best Short Film Audience Award at Reelout Film + Video Film Festival and Festival Favourite at The Palm Springs Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and was nominated for the Director’s Guild of Canada Best Short Film Award in 2014.[4]
Limina, 2016, is their second film.[5] This film follows the story of a magical gender-fluid child named Alessandra who, led by innocence and intuition, is so curious about the lives of the inhabitants of a small picturesque town that they decide to play an active part in an unknown woman’s mourning process. Limina (plural form of ‘Limen’ – Latin for ‘threshold’) is a dramatic fiction short film that represents the colorful and magical portrayal of a gender-fluid child (around 8 years old) at the center of a story that inspires compassion, kindness and the understanding that children, too, have voices that deserve to be heard.[6]
More than $22,000 CAD has been raised in their InDemand Indiegogo campaign, which is still ongoing.[6] Their final production and post-production Indiegogo campaigns are both closed, earning $10,325 and $4,217 CAD respectively.[7][8]
Isabella Rossellini said that Limina is a “new story told with a great sense of aesthetic rigor and artistry. I was touched and enormously impressed.”[9]
Ameko Eks Mass Carroll, the 11-year old star of Limina, identifies as gender-fluid. They are making Canadian awards show history by being the first potential nominee in both the male and female categories at the Leo Awards for their role in Limina after an appeal by the filmmakers.[10] The Leo Awards decision follows Kelly Mantle, best known as a former contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race, as a gender-fluid identifying performer submitting paperwork for both the male and female performance categories at the 2016 Academy Awards for her role in Confessions of a Womanizer.[10]
Carroll's potential nomination has been reported extensively worldwide through media outlets such as OUT, Teen Vogue, CBC, i-D, Yahoo, Daily Mail, and more.[11][12][13][14][15]
Ferguson is currently working with filmmaker Florian Halbedl to develop a new short film, a feature-length dramatic fiction film, and a feature-length documentary.[16]
Academic[edit]
Ferguson received their Bachelor of Arts with Honours Specialization in Film Studies and Minor in Gender, Sexuality and Culture Studies at the University of Western Ontario in 2009.[17] They received their Master of Arts in Film Studies, at the University of British Columbia in 2010.[18]
In 2008, Joshua co-founded Emergence Arts Festival at the University of Western Ontario and then the Virtual and Digital Social Justice Art Gallery at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia in 2015.[19][20]
Ferguson an expert in the field of trans studies, particularly focusing on non-binary identity and expression. Ferguson received their PhD in Philosophy through Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice program at the University of British Columbia. They are developing their dissertation, entitled, Non-binary trans subjects : exiting the attachment to the transgender metanarrative of man/woman (August 2016), into a book.[18][1]
In September 2016, Ferguson was interviewed by Torontoist in response to a University of Toronto professor, speaking to the transphobia in the higher education system.[21]
Writing and Activism[edit]
Ferguson made the news in 2007 when their university protest on Canada's gay blood ban was met with police presence.[22] This fight continued into 2008 with petitions and a protest at Parliament Hill.[23] Their organization, Standing Against Queer Discrimination, a London, Ontario-based group, spoke out before their Parliament Hill march, creating a day of action against the gay blood ban in Canada.[24] Much of this anger was due to new rules being implemented regarding the ban around that time, forbidding gay men from donating organs, or men who have had sex with other men within 5 years.[25] This actually led to a drop in organ donations within the next year. Ferguson and Standing Against Queer Discrimination continued to advocate for this issue's visibility.[26]
It is then reported that because of the organ donor ban, up to 1,000 organs could be lost each year. Ferguson speaks to this issue as well.[27]
They have also spoken out about the BC Liberal Party's presence in Vancouver Pride.[28]
Ferguson received a scholarship from the LOUD Foundation, among the inaugural recipients in 2009, when BC’s gay and lesbian business association launched scholarships to support future LGBT community leaders. Ferguson received the award just a few months after arriving in Vancouver from Ontario, having just completed a degree in film studies and served as director of Standing Against Queer Discrimination.[29]
They were nominated for the Political Activist of the Year for Capital Xtra's HERO Awards in 2009.[30]
Ferguson has also been published a few times on Huffington Post, regarding their writings on non-binary activism and mental health awareness.[1]
Personal life[edit]
Ferguson uses they/them pronouns.[31][32]
Ferguson is the spouse of Swiss-Canadian filmmaker Florian Halbedl.[33] Together, they created their film production company, Turbid Lake Pictures.[16]
Filmography[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Genre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Whispers of Life | Producer | Drama/ narrative short | Short film - 11 minutes |
| 2016 | Limina | Producer | Drama/ educational short | Short film - 14 minutes |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Joshua M. Ferguson". www.huffingtonpost.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ Nelson, Travis; Gilmore, Patrick; Rota, Aaron; Jeske, Veronica (2013-09-21), Whispers of Life, retrieved 2017-02-02
- ↑ Nelson, Travis; Gilmore, Patrick; Rota, Aaron; Jeske, Veronica (2013-09-21), Whispers of Life, retrieved 2017-02-02
- ↑ "Alumni News - Faculty of Arts and Humanities - Western University". www.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ Ferguson, Joshua M.; Halbedl, Florian (2000-01-01), Limina, retrieved 2017-02-02
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Limina - A New Short Film by Turbid Lake Pictures". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Limina - A Short Film: Final Production Campaign". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Limina - A Short Film: Post-Production Campaign". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- ↑ "Limina - Facebook Page". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Gender-Fluid Actor Judged Eligible in Both Male and Female Categories at Canadian Awards Show". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Non-Binary Child Actor Submits in Leo Awards' Male & Female Categories". 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ Hirsh, Sophie. "An Awards Show Will Consider an 11-Year-Old For Both Male And Female Categories". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Gender-fluid child actor accepted for consideration for B.C.'s Leo Awards". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Gender-Fluid Actor Judged Eligible in Both Male and Female Categories at Canadian Awards Show". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Gender-fluid actor eligible in male AND female Leo Award categories". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "About Us". Turbid Lake Pictures. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ University, Department of Communications and Public Affairs, Western (2016-11-09). "Western News - Ferguson: We're non-binary trans – and we exist". Western News. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 M., Ferguson, Joshua (2016-09-07). "Non-binary trans subjects : exiting the attachment to the transgender metanarrative of man/woman". doi:10.14288/1.0314123.
- ↑ "UWO students stage first queer film fest | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Honouring young community builders | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ Torontoist (2016-09-30). "Non-Binary Students React to the U of T Prof Who Won't Acknowledge Their Pronouns". Torontoist. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "UWO students protest gay blood ban | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "John Hancocks go to Parliament Hill | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Day of action on organ ban | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Tear up your organ donor cards, boys | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Anti-gay discrimination still in place on organ donations | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Doctors say gay organ donor ban could lead to deaths | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Pledge pushback: BC Liberals not welcome at Pride parade". British Columbia. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Where are they now: LOUD winner Joshua Ferguson | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "23 reasons to be PROUD of Ottawa | Daily Xtra". Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "Joshua M. Ferguson (@joshuamferguson) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ "FILM STUDIES M.A. ALUMNX JOSHUA M. FERGUSON PUBLISHES in HUFFINGTON POST | Theatre and Film". theatrefilm.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
- ↑ Curtis, Malcolm (28 May 2015). "Swiss returns home to make 'gender-fluid' film". http://www.thelocal.ch/. Retrieved February 1, 2016. External link in
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