USA Projects

Same Difference is a cinematic collaboration between two artists raising young sons with same sex partners. Renowned photographer Catherine Opie and award-winning filmmaker Lisa Udelson became interested in the lack of children’s voices in California during the debate over the anti-gay marriage bill Proposition 8. Questions arose for these longtime friends. Do we want to get married? Raise macho men or boys in pink tutus? Observe  traditional holidays? Do we want to fit in? Is it possible to celebrate our differences while yearning, even demanding, to be accepted and treated the same?

We are hoping to raise finishing funds to complete this project, which will cover the final sound production, picture work, and duplication. All funds raised over our minimum goal of $15,000 will allow to us to put more work into this final phase and to reach a broader audience.

Same Difference focuses on the opinions of children with same sex parents, ranging in age from two to eighteen. They speak with humor, insight, intelligence and passion about their lives and their families. The film includes their parents and grandparents, including the filmmakers, who daily navigate the landscape of queer family. The interview process becomes its own character of sorts, as subjects reveal themselves in unexpected ways. Additionally, the film is punctuated with vintage film footage to create irony and recognition of the historical representation of family. 

Same Difference is an exploration of the construction of family, which encompasses multiple layers of parenting. Subjects include families of single and divorced parents, adopted and multi-racial families, as well as multiple parent households. This is a reflection on the modern American family, not only those within the LGBTQ community, but society at large.

This is the first collaboration between Lisa Udelson and Catherine Opie, both recognized artists in their fields. Each has a history of creating political work in the documentary realm. Catherine is a renowned artist, whose photographic works have been recognized by major museum throughout the world, including a solo retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. She is currently a professor at UCLA.

Same Difference is Lisa Udelson’s second documentary project. Her last film, Lifetime Guarantee, won numerous awards at film festivals throughout the world. Lisa is also the writer and director of the acclaimed short film, The Party Favor, which has screened in over 100 domestic and international film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival.

As friends for over 20 years, artists and mothers raising sons with same sex partners, they are passionate about the issue and take the subject of family personally and politically. Each artist has a history of making work that succeeds in addressing issues of gender and its relationship to the title of this piece – Same Difference – by educating the audience with warmth, humor and compassion.

Our hope is for Same Difference to reach the widest possible audience, particularly in light of the timeliness of debates over gay marriage. This piece educates less open-minded viewers as it empowers an LGBTQ audience. While the film does serve as a vehicle to address the needs of acknowledgement and encouragement for gay families and celebrate our unique experience of American life, we do not want this piece to “preach to the choir”. While the film will have a presence at museums and film festivals worldwide, we feel that broadcast television is the perfect venue, where audiences are more inclined to watch programming out of their comfort zone. There is access to deliver this thought-provoking message of recognition and encouragement to a wide array of viewers without asking them to go to a theatre or pay additional cable fees.