ABOUT THE FILM

Our film follows a courtroom drama structure, where we cut between events of Thomasine’s life in the community, and their experience within the courtroom. We are taking an artistic approach to their life with the intended focus being on their subjectivity.

The film opens with a rather peaceful and tranquil scene of Thomasine washing their clothes at a riverbank. The sound of flowing water & Thomasine humming controls the moment. From this, we cut to Thomasine pledging an oath in court, and the case begins. Thomasine faces the Governor, who questions their identity amid accusations of fornication, framing their existence as deceitful and a threat to societal norms. Thomasine pleads for acceptance and expresses a desire to live authentically, revealing their dual existence as both a man and a woman. The Governor dismisses their plea, igniting rising tensions in the courtroom.

After mentioning Thomasine’s life in Jamestown, a montage showcasing this begins. We see them starting their life in the community as male presenting, and over multiple years they transition to female presenting. It is made evident that while the community are welcoming at first, they begin to trust them less over time. Thomasine begins work on John Tyos’ plantation, and it is brought to light that rumours have spread that Thomasine had slept with a maid.

Snapping back to the courtroom, the Governor demands evidence of Thomasine's supposed misconduct, further heightening the sense of unjust politics and misunderstanding surrounding their identity. Through the uproar in the court, the Governor introduces the inspections which took place. Thomasine goes silent. After being thrown onto the floor of the plantation barn, Thomasine is brutally inspected against their will. We have decided to not go into detail on this scene here due to triggering content, but we have already planned some unique creative decisions to showcase this moment in the most respectful and serious way possible.

After cutting to black, the barn door opens and a shadow casts over a defeated Thomasine. The mysterious figure picks them up and carries them out of the barn. We cut to them in a rather well-kept living quarters, and John Tyos stands in the doorway. He supports them before asking them not to speak of his help. Back in the courtroom, Thomasine’s dramatic monologue begins with them asking “They couldn’t work me out, could they?”. After the highly empowering and inspiring monologue, Thomasine is ultimately declared as ‘both’ by the court to mark them as different. Although, after this declaration, Thomasine disappeared from the history records. We intend to highlight this as a powerful act in which they found a way out of this forced otherness. The courtroom completely freezes, and Thomasine moves around freely before walking out of the room. The doors close dramatically, and the humming and water flow sounds return as we cut to black: Was the opening where they ended up afterwards? Was the opening just their dream life? Or was it something else entirely? That’s for you to decide.

Thomasine shines a light onto a significant part of gender history that is often overlooked and has rarely been explored before in film. We aim to showcase the complexities and hardships in which Thomasine had to endure, providing a moment for audiences to consider the similarities between historical & modern attitudes. We are seeking to provide innovative storytelling through various filmmaking techniques which are unique to this project. Our gender-based true story delves into what being an intersex person in the 1600s really meant, peeling back the layers of gender non-conformity in the face of higher authority.

After being raised as a girl, they spent most of their life continuously moving and travelling, shifting their gender presentation throughout. After working in Jamestown, Virginia for a few years, a rumour surfaced that they had slept with a local maid. This in turn led to a court case and invasive bodily inspections with the intention of determining their gender – the inspectors could not come to a shared conclusive decision. In 1629, the court ruling forced Hall to live as ‘both’, making them one of the earliest known figures in Western history to not conform to a specific socially-constructed gender. Thomasine remains a fascinating figure, representing a challenge to the binary notions of gender in a period marked by strict social structures, and is one of the main frameworks for gender fluidity across history, right up to the present. In our film, they are a character who breaks free from norms and rules in society, not just in relation to language and posture, but also costume. They break the fourth wall at multiple occasions, connecting them to the modern viewer and positioning them as a person out of time.

John Tyos is the plantation owner who hired Thomasine when they moved to Virginia. He is a person who is morally grey, but assists Thomasine when they need the help. It is questioned whether or not he is only doing it for his public image in the community. When the rumours spread that Thomasine had slept with a maid, Tyos insisted that Thomasine had always been a male for as long as they had worked for him. He also appeared in court for the case.

Governor Potts was the governor during Thomasine’s court case. He is a rather intimidating character who poses a threat to Thomasine and makes them feel vulnerable as moments of their life are brought to life in the case. Ultimately, he declares Thomasine Hall should be referred to as ‘both’ moving forward and should dress in both male and female clothing in order to mark them as different to everyone else in Jamestown.

The eight inspectors are members of the Jamestown community who inspected Thomasine against their will. While 3 of the inspectors were respected, married women of the community, the others were violent men who took no consideration of Thomasine’s emotions. The intention behind these inspections was to determine their gender and put an end to their so-called ‘deceit’ to the community. 

From the opening, Thomasine is highlighted by a high-key lighting style, emphasising their freedom, peace and happiness in their comfort. This lighting tone would snap to a low-key style when we find ourselves in the courtroom, foreshadowing the horror and invasion the townspeople would inflict upon them across the film. In scenes of Thomasine at work, the lighting will utilise a much more natural style, showing an alteration in tone compared to the opening. During the intense inspection scene, the lighting would shift into a chiaroscuro style to show intimidation, tension and fear. Thomasine is damaged from the previous events, and this would be reflected in the darkened lighting. To bring further effect, candles could be used to show a loss in heart/ inner spirit. For the final courtroom scene, this is the moment where Thomasine is not only most exposed, but the point at which their life has been completely ripped apart by the community. Low-key lighting will be used throughout to convey this. Thomasine's speech, however, breaks this style; the light on Thomasine's face grows warmer. By the end of the film, we shift into a high-key style lighting setup to empower Thomasine as they fight back the darkness over them.

-        Charlie Johnston

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

“This film is important as it’s a story that has been lost in history and has never been shown on screen before. Shedding light on a story which happened a long time ago but is still so relevant in today’s day and age is at the heart of this film. I intend to show the life of an intersex person in the 1600s and in doing so begin to expose the unjust socio-political attitudes towards those who didn’t fit the binary. This film is full of beautiful locations, a mix of modern and historical language, as well as visual depictions of conformity – all of which will come together to recreate the life of Thomasine. The film should begin to fill the lack of intersex depictions on screen, and the goal is to hopefully encourage other filmmakers to follow in our footsteps.” 

–   Casey Shepstone

MEET THE CREW

We also have a variety of additional crew members working on this project in roles such as composing, graphic designing, social media marketing, and a range of other departments. Katerina Kellaris designed the poster used for this crowdfund campaign.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

In order to realise this project to the best of our ability, we need to raise £1,500 through this campaign. Below is a clear breakdown of the costs we need to cover, so you can know exactly what your donation will be supporting!

If we raise any extra funds above our target, this money will be used by the University of Reading Film Theatre and Television department to help promote our film and other films made by our fellow students.

A FINAL MESSAGE

We feel passionately that Thomasine can fill an important niche in gender-based film, showing intersex identities in all their complexity and opening up much-needed conversations through a combination of creative decisions.

Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to representing that vision onscreen. Surely you want to find out more about Thomasine Hall; the person who paved the way for our very understanding of gender construction? Help us put that true story onscreen, from the beginning of their life in Jamestown through to that final court decision which changed the future of gender non-conformity.

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

No worries if you cannot donate at this time — you can help tremendously by letting as many people know about Thomasine as possible! Feel free to follow our Instagram account for regular updates on the project: @thomasinefilm. Don't forget the Share option on this UoR website - please spread the word about this film with anyone you know who might resonate with its themes or might want to support our campaign.

Thank you!

The Thomasine Team x