JASPER JONES

Voice of an Other

Voice of an Other is a short film that explores the art of lip sync as an expression of queer identity. In using another’s voice to express your own, queer voices are actualised and amplified, when they’ve historically been missing in popular culture. With the audience perspective shifting throughout, Voice of an Other tracks the journey of an ever-morphing voice that informs its environment.

The writing and work of British performer, Jacob Mallinson Bird, largely inspired the piece and his drag persona, Dinah Lux, takes centre stage. We follow the lone figure of Dinah, as she takes us with her, through the looking glass, to the suspended moment of on-stage glory; the queer safe-haven where joy is abundant, dreams are realised and “life is beautiful.” In the closing scene, Dinah addresses us for the first time. The excerpt, from the show Cabaret, is a nod of recognition to the fleeting nature of the night’s performance and a knowing warning of what lies beyond the stage door.

Jacob says of the project:
“If the film offers any answers to its questions, it’s surely that identity is anything but fixed, and, to what extent it is performed, it can be created as a work of art.”