Cinematographer Leo Sfeir understands the unique challenges faced by talented professionals who happen to be transgender; that’s because Leo is himself transgender. While he’s gained respect in the film industry as a DP on numerous productions, Leo has experienced the under-representation of others and as a result has made a decision to be part of the solution by utilizing his talent for them. The way to change the world is by changing the hearts and minds of the citizens of the world and no means is more successful than the arts.
Sfeir recently worked with famed Instagram influencer Mars Wright (also transgender) on a clothing campaign. A highly successful influencer and transgender individual with millions of likes, Mars speaks directly to a vast community through platforms like IG and TikTok. Leo confirms that this collaboration is the first of many that he will undertake to support a community which he is a part of and which is finally on the brink of the acceptance which is so long overdue.
Drive is what has pushed Leo to a career as a cinematographer in a number of films, most recently working last year with award-winning director/writer Sara Lattis on the film Onshore. That same drive prompts Sfeir to work with transgender talent on a variety of productions. An admirer of Mars Wright’s work, Leo eagerly accepted an offer to shoot a clothing campaign to be featured on Wright’s social media channels. In addition to his massively popular online identity, Mars is also known for championing exposure to queer and trans artists.
Wright’s already established DIY style required Leo to use a delicate approach so as to not deviate drastically but nevertheless allowed an opportunity for amplification of the emotional message.
Sfeir explains, “The pictures and videos can be seen on Instagram and Tik Tok. Knowing the final destination of the footage definitely altered my way of shooting. The lighting itself was relatively similar, just simplified a little as I was doing it all myself. But the camera work was very different from my usual work as I usually film in 16/9 (horizontal) and not 9/16 (vertical) which is always a little bit disturbing at first.
As a DP, adapting to social media is a must nowadays, especially if you’re starting your career in the past five years. It is both a blessing and a curse in many ways: a blessing because it creates more work opportunities for film makers and allows them to feed themselves and pay their bills. On the other hand, a lot of people who are in social media don’t have any real knowledge on filmmaking and have the tendency to have too big expectations for the what they can afford.”
The posts which resulted from this collaboration are not the results of fad filters or gimmicks, they are true art. Various individuals are seen wearing Mars Wright’s clothing creations in a white/spartan background. The lighting is minimal. What is so blatantly obvious is the power and range of emotions that the subjects featured in these posts possess.
There is confidence and self-assuredness which declares to the audience “You can discover yourself and be proud of it, whomever you are.” Leo Sfeir’s work on this project is the perfect convergence of talent and understanding. The minimalism of the photos and videos created on this campaign contain such abundant sincerity, it’s impossible to think of a DP other than Sfeir who could have achieved such potent emotions in the imagery.
Recalling this experience, Leo states, “For me, being able to work with a group of trans artist is very rewarding. We were lucky to have a shoot with only trans people, which I had never have experienced before and it gave me a feeling of belonging that I had never quite gotten. And the result of the photos and videos is amazing given the amount of time and space we had to do it all.”
Representation is something that many other groups have demanded and achieved via the determination of gifted proponents, Leo is adamant about continuing this tradition in Hollywood as he states, “As a transgender filmmaker it is important for me to work towards more representation both in front and behind the camera. I really want to work with people from the community and help in building the younger’s generation future.
One of the things I am trying to work on as much as possible is to get more diverse crews because a lot of what Hollywood is calling diversification is mainly for actors and directors but not really for behind the camera. Out of 390 members of the ASC only 18 are women and most of them joined relatively recently. The statistics are equally bad for ethnic diversity; only 5% of ASC members are Latino, 3% are Asian and 2% are black. And not a single trans person is part of it.
I am trying to be as visible as I can because I do not want anyone to feel the way I did when I started coming out and realized that there was no trans cinematographer. Thankfully there are a few more now but you can count them on your hands.”
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(I could not get all of these links to work. Can you please try them?)
not sure why they don’t work on your side, would you rather have me send pictures?
Writer: Kameron Horn