MAISIE
Directed by: Lee Cooper | 75 min | United Kingdom | 2022
After shaking his sequins for over fifty years, David Raven, a.k.a. Maisie Trolette is getting ready to celebrate his 85th birthday as Britain's oldest drag act. As part of the countdown, a surprise extravaganza has been arranged in the UK's capital of camp, Brighton, with a special guest flying over from the States.
At 88, Walter Cole, a.k.a. Darcelle XV is the Guinness World Record holder and still performs five nights a week at his show bar in Portland, Oregon. Both meet over afternoon tea, but professional rivalries soon flare between Britain's feisty Pantomime Dame and America's regal Pageant Queen.
As the big day approaches, an unsettling health diagnosis adds to David's growing anxiety. Still, ever the professional, Maisie gives the performance of a lifetime as she looks back on a half century of entertaining.
Hilarious, heart-warming, and often heartbreaking, Maisie is an award-winning peek into the world of a character more colourful than his gowns
Director’s Statement:
There are many amazing ‘coming out’ stories committed to film, but how often do we get to see the other end of the tale? I wanted to explore what it means to be older and to be queer.
Over the course of three years I was fortunate to be granted unique access into the colourful world of both David Raven and ‘Maisie’. David can be a difficult man, but it was only late in the production that he received his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. David is still an accomplished performer, never forgetting a word of his songs, and my film is a celebration of old age as well as a sometimes-raw look at the realities of Alzheimer’s.
Old age is not ‘sexy’ and the LGBTQ+ older community in particular don’t want to talk about it. But who will look after us when we are older if we don’t have children or are estranged from our families at a younger age? Hopefully I have created a story that transcends the LGBTQ+ community and is ultimately an inspirational look at life and friendship in our twilight years.
Preceded by the short film:
GROWN IN DARKNESS
Directed by: Devin Shears | 17 min | Canada | 2022
Henry lives alone on his farm growing rhubarb in a dark cellar when his friend Emmanuel arrives to collect the harvest. Together the two spend a few days tentatively exploring the boundaries of their relationship in this short film about loneliness and longing in the later years of life.
