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Morty Diamond
Transgender Director
I spoke with Morty
Diamond—director, sex educator and transgender performance artist—back
in November 2005. His debut movie, Trannyfags, was a groundbreaking
entry into an almost non-existent genre: transgender porn. Morty took
some time away from his computer to chat with us about his latest
project, Trans Entities, how it can be an educational film as well as a
pornographic one, and how to know what pronoun to use with the gender
fluid.
ErosZine: What have you been up to since your last film?
Morty Diamond: Well, since my last film I have been working a lot on my
writing, short stories and a few starts at a novel. However, to temper
all that time in my room huddled over my computer, I started to get the
itch to make another porn movie, thus Trans Entities was born.
ErosZine: That film, your latest DVD, features a real life trans-identifying couple. How did you find Papi’ and Wil?
Morty Diamond: I met Papi’ and Wil at a party where a mutual friend
introduced us. Once we met we became friends pretty quickly and soon
enough started talking about porn, since I produced a porn and Papi’
and Wil had been interested in starring in one. So it was pretty
serendipitous.
ErosZine: The film is very intense and intimate and reveals many
aspects of their relationship—transgender, queer, BDSM and polyamory—in
a frank manner. Some of it is pretty rough. How do you think the
“uninitiated” will react to it?
Morty Diamond: I think the movie does have its moments that are intense
and heavy, but it is tempered with the light side of things, like Papi’
and Wil laughing and hanging out together. I don’t know how the
“uninitiated” will take the movie, other than it’ll be one hell of an
eye-opener. But even for me the movie is thought-provoking. I have
never met anyone else like Papi’ and Wil and their chemistry is
unmatched by anything I’ve ever seen in pornography, let alone real
life.
ErosZine: Explain how one is to know what pronoun to use. If I see
someone who I take to be a female, I automatically use “she,” but that
may not always be politically correct…or polite…or accurate, even. How
are we supposed to get it right?
Morty Diamond: I think, for me, the polite thing to do is ask. I think
those who are gender fluid or gender nonconforming understand that it
may be confusing to some and I think asking is a way of respecting who
they are so you don’t misjudge and perhaps use the wrong pronoun. Keep
in mind there is a time and a place to ask, “Hey, what’s your pronoun?”
And if the time isn’t right or you don’t know that person well enough
to ask, just try not to use a pronoun when referring to them. Just use
their name in replacement of the pronoun.
ErosZine: Do you view this film as an educational tool, beyond its basic porn appeal?
Morty Diamond: Oh yes, I definitely do. I think this film educates on
the topics that are brought up, as you said: BDSM, gender nonconformity
and polyamory. Papi’ and Wil are sort of markers, to me, of what two
people can have in terms of a loving, caring, trusting relationship
that is deeply in touch with their sexual desires. Papi’ and Wil are
willing to take risks with other people and that is something not many
people do in relationships, because risks come with consequences. But
they have it down, the communication and the love that it takes to make
it all work out.
ErosZine: Is their relationship exemplary, do you think?
Morty Diamond: It is only exemplary of who they are and what they have.
ErosZine: I especially enjoyed the role-play scene. I don’t think Ive
ever seen anything like it in porn before. What was that like to film?
Morty Diamond: It was crazy and startling. I didn’t know what they were
going to do, how far the role-play was going to go, and I just felt
stunned by the power and emotion that was being shown to me.
ErosZIne: Since you state that the sex here is basically un-directed, what is your role as director?
Morty Diamond: My role as director was basically gathering what I
needed to make the movie happen. I had many meetings with Papi’ and Wil
to flesh out what it is that I wanted to highlight about their
relationship. I decided what types of sex scenes we would shoot and how
I wanted to shoot them. I made up all of the interview questions to
ask, so just all of the details that make up the production of the
movie. I also facilitated the whole post-production process, finding
good music, a good editor, a good reproduction house to use, etc.
ErosZine: They obviously had quite a bit of trust in you to invite you
into their bedroom. What was the process for building that trust like?
Morty Diamond: Well, we’re friends to begin with, but beyond that I
think all of the meetings we had where we discussed what the movie
should be centered around and letting them know how I envisioned the
movie to look made them very happy and comfortable with me.
ErosZine: What do you have in the works next?
Morty Diamond: I am going to continue to write and hopefully get some
of my short stories published very soon. As for my career in
pornography, I’m not totally sure where it will go, but if I ever do
make more I would really like to focus solely on directing. Having to
deal with the post production and marketing is not the fun part for me
and it would be great to hook up with a studio and have them fund my
next project.
ErosZine: Well, good luck with that. There’s certainly a market for
such passionate movies! Is there anything else you’d like to share with
our readers?
Morty Diamond: Trans Entities just got picked to screen at the 2008
London Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and I’ll be there, so if you come
be sure to say hi. To find out about other screenings, how to buy the
movie and all that other good stuff, head to my web site: www.mortydiamond.com. Thanks!
[Written Jan. 2008]
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