Award winning trans-bodybuilding doc MAN MADE releases worldwide on VOD platforms on Thursday, November 7th, 2019 via Journeyman Pictures.
MAN MADE follows the extraordinary lives of four transgender men as they prepare to compete at TransFitCon, the only all trans-bodybuilding competition in the world – held in Atlanta, GA.
What precedes this triumphant moment are a set of personal and diverse journeys taken on the path to self-identity and empowerment: MAN MADE intertwines the nuances of manhood; the drive for social justice; and the competitive desire to forge our own paths and be our personal best.
MAN MADE takes us into the heart of transgender male (FTM) culture, revealing unexpected truths about gender, masculinity, humanity and love. It’s a character-driven, intimate, and riveting verité-style competition film, but also a unique social justice narrative.
It speaks to the ways in which we all choose to define and reshape ourselves, both figuratively and literally.
Directed with an intimate and authentic vision by trans-filmmaker T Cooper – an acclaimed novelist, television writer, journalist and LGBT activist. Said Cooper, “I believe that this film is more vital than ever. Even though I am not a bodybuilder, I know what it means to envision and then actually take steps to build the body-and life that you want. So in some ways, this is mystory. But it is also the story of anybody who has done what it takes to become the person s/he is meant to be.”
Executive produced by Téa Leoni, who said, “Man Made is striking, and simply feels like nothing I’ve seen in storytelling around transgender lives, either documentary or narrative. Simply put: you see this film, and it changes you.”
MAN MADE world premiered in 2018 at over 75 festivals around the world, winning critical and audience acclaim. Out Magazine called the film “an assured crowd-pleaser, made with great love and insight.” The New Yorker said, “Man Made upends the traditional documentary gaze… [and] resists the urge to turn the bodybuilders’ stories into narratives of simple, complete self-actualization; instead, it offers a testament to individual moments of joy-transformative in themselves.”
Festival awards include Best Documentary Jury Award, Atlanta Film Festival; Best Documentary Audience Award, Outfest Los Angeles and NewFest NYC; and Best Documentary Jury Award at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival.
Filmmaker Bio:
T Cooper is an award-winning filmmaker, best-selling novelist, journalist, and television writer-producer. Man Made is his feature directorial debut. His first film, The Beaufort Diaries, is an animated short starring David Duchovny, which Cooper adapted from his own graphic novella of the same name; the film premiered at Tribeca and SXSW. Cooper is also the author of nine books, including two bestselling novels. His television writing credits include The Get Down(Netflix), Copper(BBC America), and he is currently a writer/producer on The Blacklist(NBC). Cooper’s journalism and short fiction have appeared in a variety of publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s, Mother Jones, Esquire, O: The Oprah Magazine, CNN, Out, The Advocate, The Guardian, and The Believer, as well as on Public Radio, and in many other venues in both the U.S. and abroad. Cooper is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University, and lives in New York City and Atlanta with his family. More info: www.t-cooper.com
