Queer twist in James Bond documentary, The Other Fellow
What if your name was James Bond, but aside from your moniker you had no other similarity to Britain’s super spy, 007? Well, a team of filmmakers — some LGBTQ — have made a documentary about some of the folks who share the “Bond” with one of the screen’s most notorious alpha males.
The Other Fellow is a documentary about the character of James Bond, but it’s also about the spectrum of male identity.
The year is 1952, the place Jamaica. Novelist Ian Fleming needs a name for his secret agent protagonist, and so he borrows one from an unsuspecting Philadelphia birdwatcher to create what becomes an international poster boy of masculinity.
Seventy years later, in 2022, James Bond is celebrating 60 years of being an infamous screen idol, via actors such as Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. Australian filmmaker Matthew Bauer decides to track down the un-famous namesakes scattered around the globe, whether they be Black, white, straight, gay, adult or child. What’s it like to share a name with the character James Bond? is it a blessing or a curse?
From a Swedish 007 super-fan with a WWII past, to a gay New York theatre director, and an African American Bond accused of murder, Bauer’s cinematic mission is an audacious, poignant, and insightful examination of masculinity, gender, and race in the very real shadows of a movie icon.
About the filmmaker
Born and raised in Australia on a diet of Bond films, labyrinthine thrillers and Errol Morris documentaries, Matthew Bauer attended NYU/Tisch and completed his Masters in Directing under the tutelage of Oliver Stone and Todd Solondz.
Bauer is a proud LGBTQ+ filmmaker and has a unique worldview expressed in his films. He is developing his second feature documentary Ethanol and a TV series about the 1972 Moroccan royal jet attack.
The Other Fellow is his feature documentary debut.
FACEBOOK | Matthew Bauer | Facebook INSTAGRAM | Matthew Bauer @mattobauer
THE OTHER FELLOW | CONTRIBUTORS
Gunnar James Bond Schäfer – James Alexander Bond – James Andrew Bond – James Bond – James Bond – James Bond – James Bond Jr. – James Cesar Bond – James Lee Bond – James Neil Bond – Dr. James Bond – James Hart – Mary Wickham Bond – and Ms. Bond.
THE OTHER FELLOW | CAST
CHARLIE PALMER ROTHWELL | Johannes Schäfer
CHAE-JAMAL McFARLANE | James Bond Jr.
RACHEL PERRYER | Ms. Bond
with TACEY ADAMS | Mary Wickham Bond
and GREGORY ITZIN | James Bond
FOLLOW ONLINE
#theotherfellow #bondsjamesbonds
The Other Fellow is in theatres and on demand on February 17.
