No Ordinary Man is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt, and written by Aisling Chin-Yee and Amos Mac.[4] It is a portrait of Billy Tipton, the jazz musician who was revealed after his death to have been transgender.[5][6]
| No Ordinary Man | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Aisling Chin-Yee Chase Joynt |
| Written by | Aisling Chin-Yee Amos Mac |
| Produced by | Sarah Spring |
| Cinematography | Léna Mill-Reuillard |
| Edited by | Aisling Chin-Yee |
| Music by | Rich Aucoin Billy Tipton |
Production company | Parabola Films |
| Distributed by | Oscilloscope, Radiant Films International, Les Films du 3 mars |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $15,508[2][3] |
The film's production was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. However, as principal photography was already completed, it mainly affected tasks such as editing and post-production work that could be done remotely.[5]
The film premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.[7] It was subsequently screened at the 2020 Inside Out Film and Video Festival, where it won the award for Best Canadian Film.[8]
Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired U.S. rights to No Ordinary Man.
For Now and The Georgia Straight, Kevin Ritchie praised the film, writing that its "overlapping realizations create a complex portrait while making No Ordinary Man as much about the present as it is about the past. [It] ultimately builds to a moving and surprising climax in which the empathetic trans views of Tipton are finally able to eclipse the parochial tabloid tale."[9]
The film was named to TIFF's year-end Canada's Top Ten list for feature films.[10] It was subsequently named as a Prix Iris nominee for the Public Prize at the 23rd Quebec Cinema Awards.[11]
In The New Yorker, Richard Brody writes: "In No Ordinary Man, the directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt go fascinatingly, probingly further, to question the very prospect of making a biographical film about their subject, the trans jazz musician Billy Tipton. No Ordinary Man, in that sense, is a genre unto itself, a meta-biographical film about a musician who earned his place in history posthumously, for reasons that he carefully avoided revealing throughout his life."[12]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Directors Guild of Canada | Allan King Award for Best Documentary Film | Chase Joynt, Aisling-Chin Yee | Nominated | [13] |
| 2022 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Documentary | No Ordinary Man | Nominated | [14] |