Documentary fest heads into finale with a hit
Posted: April 4th, 2012 | Author: Bruce Fessier
http://bruce.blogs.mydesert.com/2012/04/04/documentary-film-fest-heads-into-finale-with-a-hit/Maybe I just got lucky, but my first impression of the American Documentary Film Festival Tuesday, after missing the first five days due to out-of-town business, is bordering on euphoria.
I can't recall a better world premiere in my 23 years of covering film festivals in the Coachella Valley than the festival's presentation of "I Stand Corrected" by Andrea Meyerson."
The film is inspiring and likely to make a jazz star (if that's not an oxymoron) out of transgender bass player Jennifer Leitham, whose remarkable life is the subject of this documentary.
What makes the film so special is that it's not just a chronicle of an individual's preparation for and reaction to a sex change operation. This is the story of a woman who discovered during puberty that some wires had crossed in her brain. She had always felt like a girl, but now, to her horror, she was seeing herself become a man. To cope, she immersed herself in her music and, as John Leitham, became a great jazz player, winning a Grammy as part of Mel Torme's band and earning a position with Doc Severinsen, leader of Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" Orchestra.
