Next Wednesday (Nov. 20), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) will premiere the documentary “Growing Up Gayby,” which follows a filmmaker with lesbian moms as she herself interviews “a slew of ‘gaybies’” and right-wing pundits “in an attempt to make sense of what ‘family’ is in the 21st century.”
The filmmaker, Maya Newell, is working on a feature-length film on the same topic (as attentive readers will remember from my post last year). The ABC show, she told the Star Observer, “is on the same topic but it’s an incredibly different approach. It’s a much more hardline approach, its obviously shorter, and it’s cut for an audience who may not be accustomed to any gay issues.” It’s part of the Opening Shot film series that gives young directors a chance to create a prime-time documentary “while adding a fresh voice to to the national conversation on a number of important issues.” The Sydney Morning Herald has given it a glowing review.
The full feature film is slated for release sometime in 2014.
Here’s a short trailer for the ABC show — but below it is my favorite clip from the ones I’ve seen so far: 11-year-old Gus talking about how he was created.
