{"id":24310,"date":"2017-10-10T16:22:07","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/colorlines.madeostudio.com\/article\/icymi-filmmaker-reina-gossett-says-death-and-life-marsha-p-johnson-director-stole-her-work\/"},"modified":"2017-10-10T16:22:07","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:22:07","slug":"icymi-filmmaker-reina-gossett-says-death-and-life-marsha-p-johnson-director-stole-her-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/colorlines.com\/article\/icymi-filmmaker-reina-gossett-says-death-and-life-marsha-p-johnson-director-stole-her-work\/","title":{"rendered":"ICYMI: Filmmaker Reina Gossett Says ‘Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson’ Director Stole Her Work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ICYMI: Filmmaker Reina Gossett Says ‘Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson’ Director Stole Her Work<\/h3>\n

\n By Sameer Rao<\/span> Oct 10, 2017<\/span>\n <\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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On Friday, \"The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson<\/a>\" made its Netflix<\/a> debut. But filmmaker and activist Reina Gossett<\/a> says that the director behind the documentary stole her concept and is perpetuating racist and transphobic erasure.<\/p>\n

Gossett, who currently works as the activist-in-residence at Barnard College\u2019s Center for Research on Women<\/a>, detailed \u201cDeath and Life\" director David France<\/a>‘s alleged thievery in a statement on Instagram<\/a> on Saturday (October 7). Gossett, who is a Black transgender woman, says that France, who is a White man, based his documentary on a grant application she submitted to the Arcus Foundation<\/a>. She and collaborator Sasha Wortzel<\/a> were seeking support for \"Happy Birthday, Marsha<\/a>,\" their to-be-released short film about Johnson and Sylvia Rivera<\/a>‘s co-leadership of the 1969 Stonewall<\/a> rebellion.<\/p>\n

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#deepshare #realtruth this week while I’m borrowing money to pay rent, david france is releasing his multimillion dollar netflix deal on marsha p johnson. i’m still lost in the music trying to #pay_it_no_mind and reeling on how this movie came to be and make so much $ off of our lives and ideas. david got inspired to make this film from a grant application video that @sashawortzel & I made and sent to Kalamazoo\/Arcus Foundation social justice center while he was visiting. He told the people who worked there -i shit you not- that he should be the one to do this film, got a grant from Sundance\/Arcus using my language and research about STAR, got Vimeo to remove my video of Sylvia’s critical \"y’all better quiet down\" speech, ripped off decades of my archival research that i experienced so much violence to get, had his staff call Sasha up at work to get our contacts then hired my and Sasha’s *ADVISOR* to our Marsha film Kimberly Reed to be his producer. And that’s just the shit I have the spoons to name. TRUST?THERE’S?SO?MUCH ?MORE?. This kind of extraction\/excavation of black life, disabled life, poor life, trans life is so old and so deeply connected to the violence Marsha had to deal with throughout her life. So I feel so much rage and grief over all of this & STAR must have some serious level plan on moving through many—and clearly by any means necessary—to get the message out… So tonight I’m channeling high priestess energy to show me the honey throne cuz this storm queen is <\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Reina Gossett (@reinaxgossett) on

\"This kind of extraction\/excavation of Black life, disabled life, poor life, trans life is so old and so deeply connected to the violence Marsha had to deal with throughout her life,\" Gossett wrote. She also said that France’s movie is earning unmerited attention and accolades while she struggles to pay rent.<\/p>\n

Gossett’s statement received co-signs from supporters like journalist and trans advocate Janet Mock<\/a>: <\/p>\n