Dragfox screened at BFI London Film Festival and will also screen in the Animation short film selection at OFN LGBTQIA+ Film Festival on Sunday, 17th November. BOOK TICKETS
Most LGBTQ+ adults will tell you that there was a moment in their childhood, often before puberty, when they realised they felt different from the other kids around them. For example, when I was 9 or 10, I suddenly found myself drawn to several beautiful and exciting male teen idols. My love for these ’80s celebs didn’t initially come with any sexual interest, but I knew my feelings for those boys were different from those of many of my male friends. For many trans kids, those first feelings often involve a sense of detachment, curiosity around clothing and image and an uncomfortable feeling of forced conformity. These first feelings and emotions often evade the attention of our busy parents, but they are the first tentative steps on the road we all walk in discovering and embracing our true selves.
Eleven-year-old Sam already knows how scary, confusing, and exciting those feelings can be as they sneak into their sister’s bedroom at night to take a dress they love from her wardrobe. All Sam wants to do is try on the dress, but a cunning fox has precisely the same idea and jumps through the window, grabbing the dress and taking it up to the attic. Sam follows, determined to get the dress back, only to find that this fox is one fierce diva and that their words of wisdom, music, and dance are about to help Sam spectacularly unlock their emotions and feelings.
Directed by Lisa Ott and produced by Owen Thomas, Dragfox is a sublime slice of stop-motion animation that you simply don’t want to stop. In the space of just eight minutes, Lisa Ott, Ian McKellen, RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. star Divina de Campo, newcomer Aiden Gale and The London Gay Big Band celebrate that moment in childhood where our world shifts on its axis as we explore our feelings of difference and begin to question what those feelings might mean. As Ginger Snap the Fox launches into song and dance wearing the dress Sam swiped from his sister’s wardrobe, the attic becomes a stage for a fox who knows precisely who they are and what they want from life as Ginger Snap encourages Sam to put on their dancing shoes.
Lisa Ott’s beautiful, magical musical tale, with an outstanding score by Charli Mackie and sublime voice performances, is nothing short of fabulous. In a world where trans kids find themselves used as political footballs by groups of adults who revel in toxicity and division, Dragfox is a beautiful reminder that the journey towards self-actualisation that starts in childhood should be a magical adventure full of fun, hope, and emotional support, not fear and anxiety. Ginger Snap understands that, as Sam asks, “What if I get it all wrong?” and then replies, “Oh, child, you can’t get being happy wrong!” Wise words, indeed.
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