Boi Hair
2005 • 20 minutes
Boi Hair: a short digital video about short hair is a documentary about queer women of color and their short hair. Three women discuss their short hair, reasons for their haircuts and reactions to their hair as they visit their hair stylists and spend time with family and friends.
This video features Alice Y. Hom (a Chinese American community activist), Claudia Rodriguez (a Chicana jota writer from Compton) and Lizette Sanchez (a Puerto Rican born in California).
Boi Hair is my first short documentary digital video. It was conceived in collaboration with friends while having dinner in Little Tokyo after attending Fusion, a queer people of color film festival. I love and admire butch women, and this project is an attempt to understand them as well as creating a space for them to speak about their hair, and for audiences to understand butch hair issues.
In late February 2004, Alice, Claudia and Lizette had a roundtable discussion where the only question I asked was "when did you cut your hair?" As I edited the one-hour discussion, the following questions emerged: "is there a short haircut language?," "how does your mom feel about your hair?" and "have you ever been sir'ed?"
Other discussion points included hair products and sexual attractions to other women with short hair. I videotaped each person on their regular visit to their hairstylist. I asked participants to return whenever they felt they had more to add to the video. Hence, an Easter morning visit in Canoga Park with Lizette's family, a walk through Los Angeles' Chinatown district with Alice's mom, as well as Alice retelling of a story of being "sir'ed" at the Getty. Additional footage and clips were added as private screenings prompted questions from the three participants and their friends.
Although different versions and excerpts were screened while in progress, Boi Hair was completed in February 2005.
Boi Hair has screened at the following locations:
• Need to update more current viewings.
•07/27/05 Teatro Santa Ana at the Biblioteca, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
•07/16/05 Outfest The 23rd Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Director's Guild of America 2, 7920 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood.
•07/15/05 Outfest The 23rd Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, The Village, 1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles
•05/28/05 Latino Queer Youth Conference, UCLA
•05/15/05 Outcry, University of California, Los Angeles
•05/10/05 De Eso No Se Habla: Celebrations of Queer Latinidad in the Arts & Media, University of California, Davis
•04/23/05 Women of Color Film & Video Festival, University of California, Santa Cruz
•04/02/05 thru 06/04/05 Galeria's 2nd Anniversary Exhibition WEEDE PEEPO: Icons, Portraits and Gente. Galeria de La Raza, Mission District, San Francisco. For info: www.galeriadelaraza.org
•03/18/05 thru 04/30/05 Chicana/o Biennial, MACLA, San Jose. For info: www.maclaarte.org
•01/25/05 Women Studies Jo Hockenhull Lecture, Washington State University. Previewed approximately 7 minutes.
•11/21/04 at 3:30pm at Fusion 2004: the 2nd Los Angeles LGBT People of Color Film Festival, Aratani/Japan America Theater in downtown Los Angeles. For more information: www.outfest.org
•11/09/04 Professor Luz Calvo, Ohio State University
•07/17/04 Lenguatazo/Tonguelashing: Tongues Magazine #4 Release Art & Performance Event, CASA 0101, Boyle Heights. For event information email tonguesmag@yahoo.com
•05/18/04 California State University, Pomona. Previewed approximately 7 minutes.
•05/11/04 Queer Locations: Race, Space & Sexuality. University of California, Irvine. Previewed approximately 7 minutes.
Alice Hom applying hair products.
Lizette Sanchez combing and applying hair products.
