Grimalkin's Statement & Letter to Heather Waters & the Richmond International Film Fest
This was sent to Heather Waters from me, the founder of Grimalkin, and with our board members cc'd in the email.
Hello Heather,
I am writing to you because I respect what you have done for Richmond and for taking the time to meet with me a while back. I hope you can read this with an open mind and kind heart in which itβs intended and can be understanding and empathetic and not get defensive.
I cc'd our board on this email for transparency. We discussed this at our October business meeting last Friday, and it will be shared again to everyone in our community at our next business meeting in November.
I met you a while back and you told me about RIFF and invited Grimalkin artists to apply to be a part of this year's Richmond International Film Fest (RIFF). It was very kind of you to give us discount codes so we didnβt have to pay to apply. I gave that information out to the folks in our community. Both Eli (who makes music as (eli)zabeth 0wens) and myself (who makes music as Spartan Jet-Plex) applied and were selected to play RIFF this year on Thursday, September 28. Since we met, I believe you are aware of what Grimalkin does and that both Eli and I are trans and nonbinary.
A week or so after the festival, I saw a post on Penny Page's Instagram. She had written a letter to the editor at RVA Magazine about how RIFF has done a disservice to the trans community for showing Affirmation Generation at RIFF on the Saturday following the show Eli and I played. Without our knowledge of any of this, I was informed after the fact that several queer and trans activists, including Penny, reached out to you in advance of the week of RIFF and urged RIFF not to show it. I believe at least one LGBTQ org also wrote you a letter.
Rather than engage in a conversation or listen to trans folks, it appears that you instead dug in your heels and claimed free speech and that you won't be bullied. Tony, who runs RVA Mag, confirmed that you threatened to sue RVA Magazine for libel. Another reporter there, Christian, also confirmed this was true, but Tony did not want anyone to say that you threatened to sue. He actually told Penny not to repeat that to anyone, but she said she couldnβt keep that a secret. In addition, Christian who writes for RVA Mag is also a filmmaker that has participated in RIFF and after he spoke with Penny, she got the impression there are some connections there between RVA Mag and RIFF. Eli said the same after speaking to Craig from Style Weekly who is currently writing an article about this situation. Within a day or so of the editorial, RVA Magazine deleted the editorial Penny wrote, as well as the response statement from you in response to Penny's editorial, and Grimalkin and I read both of those as well.
Penny's piece was an editorial so that means it was an opinion piece, and Penny has since sought legal advice and RIFF does not have a case against her and also would not have had a case against RVA Mag. Perhaps RVA Mag caved due to the threat or perhaps it was in part due to connections of the staff with folks at RIFF. Christian said to Penny that they know many folks that are part of RIFF that are good people. Penny isn't even sure the way it was handled by you isn't just you reacting or overreacting, and we donβt know at this time if the other folks you work with and your sponsors agree with your decision or were given an opportunity to weigh in about how it should be handled.
It takes me a long time to process stuff, and this all went down in the middle of leading up to and having our music festival, so I had to wait until after our fest to process and look into the matter further.
I watched the film. You can find it on YouTube. Affirmation Generation I also found it at this link by the disgusting LGB Alliance. That is telling.
I have been cautioning everyone before watching it that it could be triggering.
I have so many thoughts about all of this and wanted to share them with you and see if there can be a more respectful and constructive discussion about how this situation was handled by you.
1. This is significant in how it affects trans and queer filmmakers and musicians in Richmond and beyond. It perpetuates false information and bad science regarding trans health. They interviewed 6 trans folks transitioning or detransitioning in the film. One of them made a public statement that they were tricked into participating and took their words out of context for the film. They were told it was a film in support of trans people and trans rights, which is what you have basically said in your response to Penny's editorial, completely not listening to trans people who reached out before the film showed. The filmmakers and folks who support it like LGB Alliance say the film is in support of trans people and out of concern for their health and the health of innocent children.
2. You say: " No one will ever like every single film or music act we bring in. It is not possible to please everyone. I do believe; however, it is possible to respect freedom of expression (for them and for everyone) and at the same time be kind and work towards tolerance and understanding. Everyoneβs story matters, including theirs, yours, ours; everyoneβs. It is possible to build bridges if we come together to listen, share, and respect each otherβs journeys. We could accomplish a lot more together through more tolerance, acceptance, grace, and understanding. Those things have always been our goal at the Richmond International Film Festival, and that will not change."
If you claim free speech, tolerance, understanding, building bridges, listening, sharing, and respecting, then everything you did after folks reached out to you about not showing the film was a colossal failure. You did not invite folks that reached out to you to have a voice at the showing. Instead, you got defensive, didn't open a dialogue to trans people who reached out to you, and essentially bullied and threatened RVA Mag to remove the article, which is ironic since you basically accused that of the queer and trans folks who reached out to you. Free speech works both ways if that's any kind of defense for why you showed it.
3. If you claim poor healthcare as the issue as you say and that their stories deserve to be heard, why did the filmmaker have to search hard to find these folks and trick at least one of them into doing it, and worse still, I was informed that one of the folks in the film who was interviewed is a convicted sexual abuser and so that's another whole level of perpetuating bad information about trans people.
Also, even if this small group of folks received poor healthcare, the film is made for and is directed at an audience of folks who are not trans and who probably have never had a trans person in their life or family (that they know of). It is meant to slander trans care for adults and children and be a warning (even if false) to cis people and cis parents. How about the majority of trans folks who are immensely happy after receiving care and say it was life-saving?
4. In your statement, you say "it is important to also note that the festival attempted to provide opportunities for dialogue or Q & A participation months ago through general outreach efforts for many of our documentaries"
I spoke to Penny and she confirmed that you did not respond to people's outcry about the film by inviting them to have an open discussion. If you claim it was there on the website for weeks that folks could reach out for Q&A,, so what? In my opinion, if you truly want a dialogue, then you would have responded to folks by reaching out by offering them to have their voices (and all voices) heard and to counter information in the film. You didn't do that. Were you afraid to upset the filmmaker or perhaps you are another white cis woman who cannot know the trans-lived experience and perhaps doesnβt believe in gender identity outside of the binary even though trans people have existed for as long as humans have been on this earth. Some civilizations and cultures have celebrated and embraced it. You can find countless information on this if you're unaware. Colonists who took this land from the native people who lived here imposed Christianity and binary gender onto folks who were much more progressive when it came to gender identity. That is one example among many.
5. You say: "The festival has been inclusive long before inclusivity was the popular thing to do." in your statement.
I was informed you also told Craig who is currently writing an article about this for Style Weekly that you aren't transphobic because you had invited several queer and trans artists to participate in RIFF. In my opinion, making a statement about inclusivity and popularity is usually telling. When you are NOT marginalized in any way past being a cis woman, then it's crass and falls flat to make statements like that because those of us who are marginalized further and in various other ways and who have been historically underrepresented in so many different ways within the film and music business and industry and otherwise donβt have the luxury of being βnobleβ and βpopular by being inclusiveβ. We live it. Our lives and bodies are constantly under attack legally, emotionally and physically. It's an ironic defensive statement that youβre not a part of the problem and are being treated unfairly by many trans leaders, activists, musicians, etc. in Richmond.
6. Furthermore, you clearly, in my opinion, do not understand what transphobia is. You don't have to beat someone up, kill or hurt them or speak hatefully in an overt way for you to be transphobic, and the way you responded as a white cis woman who is in charge of a film festival that had multiple trans people upset about it, even if they came at you in an angry way, is in fact showing your transphobia.
The fact that you havenβt reached an understanding within yourself that when multiple more marginalized folks come to you about a problem, regardless of whether they are angry or upset, and you choose instead to get defensive and take it personally rather than step back, check your feelings at the door, and realize since you donβt share nor can truly understand their lived experiences as trans people, that alone should be a clear signal to you as a human being that you really need to step back and listen to what these folks have to say, make sure they know you want to listen and learn and open a dialogue.
In my opinion, you fumbled what could have been an amazing opportunity to truly start a much needed dialogue about trans rights and trans people, especially at this time in history when there have been so many attacks on us.
In my opinion, it's the more privileged person's responsibility if you are truly trying to do what RIFF says it's doing to diffuse rather than escalate the situation and have a genuine conversation with the folks who reached out. Your transphobia was on full display by how you handled the entire situation starting from when folks reached out to you. An unwillingness to listen and have a dialogue and invite alternate voices into the showing of the film does in fact stem from transphobia whether or not you can accept that or be willing to acknowledge that, and then strive to do better.
7. You say "Programming the film was not a political agenda"
If that is true, then why did you handle this entire situation so horribly as stated above in my prior comments. Whether you know it or not, there is a very organized trans hate agenda happening in our government and the far right and in governments across the world. Whether or not you claim the film was not political, it is regardless of your motivations for showing it at RIFF.
8. You say: "We have also heard some supportive statements within the trans community, which indicates there are differing views."
Okay, well who are these people and again, why wasn't an opportunity for a dialogue to happen before and/or after the showing of the film from multiple points of view, especially if you feel so strongly it needed to be shown and viewed?
Eli and I personally don't find the showing of it the issue, and showing the film is not anywhere nearly as egregious as how you handled everything starting with when folks reached out to you asking you not to show it. I personally DO want to know and see what misinformation is out there. We need to be vigilant as trans people to know what we are up against. I do understand that folks can be triggered though so when I sent it out to Grimalkin folks, I made sure they knew it could be triggering.
9. On a personal level, Eli and I feel duped. We didn't know about the film or the outcry surrounding it until after RIFF was over for about a week. We are both trans and you know that and what Grimalkin does. You never mentioned anything to us about it and I've been told you told both RVA Mag and Style Weekly that they had other trans representation at RIFF as further "proof" you aren't transphobic. That makes us feel like token trans people (not to mention both of us are white so it's even more suspect to me. Are white trans people who chose not to take blockers, hormones or have surgery at this time more palatable to you? Do you even accept that we are trans? I donβt know, but it makes me wonder in light of all this.
For some more irony, which is also funny in a sick and twisted way, I was wearing my He She Ze and We Protect Trans Youth tee at the show, and at the end of my set, I said "Protect Trans Youth" and you were present, and folks in the know about this situation at that time easily could have took it in the completely wrong way than I meant it since by the time we played, folks had already reached out to you.
Not sure how, but Eli and I completely missed reading and learning of this whole situation until afterwards or we would have pulled out. It feels really gross that we were there just days before the showing and while folks were reaching out to you. We are trans and you could have easily informed all the trans folks that were a part of RIFF this year about this situation and also let us weigh in.
Nothing about any of this sits right with us personally, and youβve shown through your current actions regarding this situation as the head of RIFF, that at this time, you absolutely do not share the values of Grimalkin. I urge you to listen and learn and do better. We all fuck up royally, and the ball is in your court to acknowledge your poor choices and actions in handling this.
10. RIFF is touting you are the next SXSW or competing with SXSW, which I scoffed at when I read that for the first time, because thatβs not the great thing you think it is. When the announcer said that at the show before we played, I turned to my bandmates and Eli and said quietly, do they mean how they pay musicians?
We took the gig knowing it was unpaid. I only have an issue now, though, in light and due to learning about this situation regarding the film and how it was handled.
Multi-millionaire Jay Penske owns 50% stake in SXSW, and SXSW has been openly criticized for how poorly they pay musicians. There has been pressure and they upped the pay a little, but they definitely have the means to pay the folks that matter and in which they'd have no festival without.
Exposure doesn't pay bills and itβs well past the time that we see artists in general as less than or as only hobbyists and undeserving or that art and music isn't real work. Think about taking all art and music out of our world? What would it look, sound and be like? Artists should be valued and supported like anyone else.
My final thoughts:
I have no idea if RIFF has the funding to pay musicians, staff, etc. Only the folks making the budget and paying the bills do, but what I do know for a fact is that how most festivals and every structure within the music business from major labels to even some indie labels to streaming like Spotify, to Ticketmaster and Live Nation, is exploitative and top-down with artists at the bottom even though none would have a business without us.
My opinion will always be that if you cannot pay folks fairly, then you have shit for a business model and have no business staying in business. This is directed at companies like Spotify and SXSW. We understand small film and music festivals are a different ballgame.
That said, our festival's budget for a 3 day fest (2 days in-person and 1 day online) was $12602.10. We paid 32 different artists who performed and worked the festival a total of $10900 of that budget. $1702.10 was various other expenses. We also had several volunteers as well, and we had food trucks and vendors inside, as well as community partners that we didnβt take any fees from because we really want to support our community in Richmond. We let folks know, if they wanted to donate anything, they could, but that it was not required. We also had sponsorships from local businesses as well at what Iβm sure is a much smaller scale than RIFF needed or had.
Obviously, it costs a lot to run a fest like RIFF, but if we can pay folks fairly with an annual budget this year of $50000 as a nonprofit, then surely billionaires who run for-profit fests like SXSW and maybe possibly folks like you who run RIFF could do more in the way of supporting artists and musicians.
Thanks for listening. I would love to open a genuine dialogue about this for you, for RIFF, for folks, businesses and organizations in Richmond, and for the trans community so that we can come together and examine how we can all do better collectively if of course you and RIFF are supportive of trans people and trans rights. For the welfare and benefit of the many artists and musicians living in Richmond, especially those of us who are actively working to improve life for our queer and trans communities, it is imperative we have a public discussion about this situation.
Lastly, Grimalkin and I donβt want to see you canceled. I want to see you take accountability for how you could have handled this situation better and how you missed an incredible opportunity to do what you say RIFF does. I also feel you would benefit from learning more about trans healthcare for adults and children and engage in an honest conversation and dialogue with the trans community and how you are committed to learning and doing better going forward. Iβll admit my knowledge of trans youth healthcare was limited and this situation motivated me to learn more about it and the legal aspects of it. I found this article from FIU Law Review especially interesting about the legal rights of children seeking trans health care.
A great leader can admit when they are wrong and acknowledge where they can do better. They grow from situations like this and work harder to do better to unlearn all their internalized isms and transphobia . We all have trauma and stuff to work on in this regard, including trans folks! My hope is that you and others reach a point where you realize that the tinge of defensiveness you feel when multiple people call you out or get angry about things like racism and transphobia, is in fact working towards unlearning those things and dismantling ingrained white supremacy if you can take it as a signal to reflect.
That tinge of defensiveness instead can signal to you that you have work to do and it is time to step back, reflect, compose yourself, and engage in genuine conversation, dialogue, learning, and understanding. Isnβt that truly what sincere and honest tolerance requires of us? And can tolerance lead to acceptance and the understanding that you donβt have to fully understand a group of people or an individual to respect and accept them as genuine people deserving of the same things as any other human beings? I know we have it within us as humans to do that.
Best,
Grim
Heather did respond back to us on October 30, but she didn't address our concerns and repeated similar things she stated already in her statement that has since been removed from online. We do have a copy if anyone wants to read that. She only conceded that she could have done a better job with the Q&A ahead of the festival.
Hi Grim, Nice to hear from you. Wish it was under different circumstances, but if youβve spoken to a couple of the folks you referenced, understand how you may have questions. I am more than happy to answer some of the them based on our experience. Screening the film was no different than our other docs that got programmed this year. We found each of them compelling in terms of the stories that were shared. For Affirmation Generation, we understand there are a range of viewpoints, and personally I think thatβs a healthy thing. We tried to do outreach on all of our films including that one a few months prior. I think it would have been wonderful to have others there as we always want to be inclusive and welcome a diverse range of views. I take the responsibility as far as maybe that outreach could have pinpointed a couple of people specifically with direct invitations to join the Q & A or weigh in separately. Genuinely, we didnβt see the film as a negative for the transgender community, but more as a positive to hear from members struggling and also the healthcare industry (& society in some ways) altogether failing them. I have shared this with a few others who have reached out, but for some reason it is being rejected, but it really is the case. We always try to respect there will be differences in views when it comes to the docs screened. Itβs often the nature and heart of documentary filmmaking. But the tactics of disagreeing with us week of the festival once we heard from people in the heat of things and since then have been very unproductive and something I donβt personally agree with or think is helpful as having constructive dialogue would be. There are many films that have screened thru the years that I donβt even personally agree with, but that is what makes the arts valuable as we have to appreciate different viewpoints, stories, and ideally have discussion. And the arts are one of the best places to do it and share a vast range of perspectives. For RIFF, there is never an agenda for us to push a certain view β itβs genuinely quite the opposite. We have a heart and desire to bring people together. Re: your reference as your bands playing as a token to show inclusion for us, that is very inaccurate. We didnβt even think about that. I can say with certainty, you all were selected as one of the acts we felt represented Richmond well along with Elizabeth (Eli) & we wanted to support your local label, Grimalkin. We were full at the time, and I accepted you all based on the above. To close, re: your concern on not getting paid to perform at the fest, there are times where we hire bands or give grants, split door, and other things. Festival week though, we do not make ticketing money to cover that and instead provide $375 in badges to each band member on the application just as we do for filmmakers, speakers, etc. To give you an idea, we spend 11 months planning/working on production for the events of which we dont get much ticketing $ from bands. It is more a passion I personally had to help bands connect with audiences and filmmakers. For example, your time slot on Thurs evening sold a total of $130 -- only 13 tickets sold to the general public in ticketing. However, it was pretty full because the remaining people present were 100 percent comped badge holders that RIFF took a loss on in order to expose folks to your bands β so usually every small 200 seat show we have a loss of -$2000-$2500 out of the gate β and that doesnβt include the loss we take for part time staff I have to pay planning months before. In addition, we comp everyone for the three day Flow Conferences, pitch panels and networking events that carry a ton of hard costs for us on production along with other fest week items the badge gets them into. It is a lot β if you talk to SXSW which you are comparing us to and Penny as well they donβt do near that. Respectfully, you may not understand the numbers or what we are bringing to the talent in exchange for a 35 min set or to the community.
We give a significant amount to musicians and filmmakers the week of and often year-round helping many with branding, development, building audiences and a lot more, all completely free right now (& for 12 years running free). Doing so prevents us from having funding to hire full time staff, and I have been faulted thru the years for giving too much away including my time as a consultant as we are a fest and I am my mother's daughter -- community servants in a lot of ways.
I hope Iβve answered your questions. I also hope that your non profit and its mission are fruitful in the community, and wish your band and label continued success in the coming year. Kind regards, Heather
Heather Waters
Founder & Producer
Richmond International Film Festival
President & Executive Director
RIFF Arts Institute
