By Ryan Turrin
Winner of the 2020 Outshine Film Festival’s prestigious Programmers Award of Excellence, The Sound Of Identity is a groundbreaking feature documentary that Shout! Studios is proud to present on digital and on demand June 1, 2021.
Profiling international Opera star Lucia Lucas’ historic performance at the Tulsa Opera, The Sound Of Identity lifts the curtain as she becomes the first known transgender woman to perform a principal role in Opera history.
Directed by James Kicklighter (Angel of Anywhere), The Sound Of Identity is a production from the Emmy Award-winning team of Russ Kirkpatrick & Andy Kinslow (Boomtown: An American Journey, Unlikely Family), and is executive produced by Golden Globe®-winner and Academy Award®-nominated Josh Bachove (Minari, The Little Hours), with Jonathan Pope (The Social Dilemma) on as Director of Photography.
The Sound Of Identity captures Lucia Lucas on the cusp of international stardom, profiling the moment in an artist’s career when everything could fall apart or come together. Showcasing the collaborative process between Lucas and her mentor, prolific and renowned composer Tobias Picker, Mozart’s Don Giovanni comes to life as Lucas, a world-renowned baritone, takes the spotlight and all the pressures that come with it.
Taking place at the height of her career, Lucas provides fresh insights into her transition, the professional risk she is taking, and what it means for those who follow. Exploring the role that identity plays in our personal and professional lives, The Sound Of Identity provides a nuanced look at voice and gender, in a documentary The Independent Critic calls “director James Kicklighter’s best film yet.”
“Our work as artists is both informed by our life experiences, and the times we live in,” says Kicklighter. “In profiling the professional journey of Lucia Lucas, I believe I have also made the most personal film of my own career, a universal story of all the experiences that make up the people we choose to become. Through telling the story of Lucia Lucas today, in an era where trans visibility is unprecedented, we examine the strides that have been made, but also, the long road ahead for this marginalized community.”
The Sound Of Identity is “brilliantly chronicled” (Film Threat) on the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Kicking off global Pride Month celebrations, The Sound Of Identity and Lucia Lucas break down archaic social barriers, drawing the attention of many international news outlets, including The New York Times, BBC, and NPR.
With confidence in her own abilities renewed, she paves the way for other performers to live their most authentic lives. As Lucas’ performance happens in one of the reddest states in America, The Sound Of Identity shows that people and places are much more complicated than they seem.
Watch trailer https://youtu.be/VV2fUykGTKw
