''Two 4 One'' is a 2014 Canadian

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film"Two 4 One and the accidental pregnancy"
''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', September 29, 2014. that marks the debut of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

filmmaker

Maureen Bradley Maureen Bradley is a Canadian film director, producer, screenwriter, media artist, professor, and curator. She has produced over fifty short films and her work has been recognized internationally. Through her work, she challenges traditional gende ...

."Victoria filmmaker aims to transcend transgender cliché"
''

Victoria Times-Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily Co ...

'', November 21, 2013. The film stars

Gavin Crawford Gavin Crawford (born 2 April 1971) is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for ''The Gavin Crawford Show'' and ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''. He currently hosts the panel show, '' Because News'', on CBC Radio One. Early life Crawford was b ...

as Adam, a

trans man A trans man is a man who was assigned female at birth. The label of transgender man is not always interchangeable with that of transsexual man, although the two labels are often used in this way. ''Transgender'' is an umbrella term that incl ...

who agrees to have a one-night stand with his ex-girlfriend Miriam (

Naomi Snieckus Naomi Snieckus is a Canadian actress and comedian, best known for her regular television role as Bobbi in ''Mr. D'' and her appearance as Nina in ''Saw 3D''."As seen on TV, a lot". ''The Globe and Mail'', June 29, 2012. She is also a podcast host. ...

) during which he uses a mail order at-home pregnancy kit to

artificially inseminate Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...

her with donated sperm. However, an accident during the encounter leaves both Adam and Miriam pregnant, forcing Adam, who has not yet completed the surgical phase of his gender transition, to confront the ways in which the pregnancy will influence his sense of gender identity. After premiering on September 21, 2014 at the

Calgary International Film Festival The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, in late September and early October. CIFF is the largest international film festival in Alberta and the sixth largest in Canada. The Festival's ...

.,"Man becomes pregnant in Calgary film fest movie"
''

Calgary Sun The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily replaced the long-running tabloid-size newspaper ''The Albertan'' soon after it was acq ...

'', September 20, 2014. the film gained traction among the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community and extended its screenings to

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

and LGBT film festivals across North America and the UK. It received multiple nominations for the 2015

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

and won three best film awards that same year.

Cast

as Adam/Melanie *

as Miriam * Gabrielle Rose as Franny, Adam's mother *

Andrea Menard Andrea Menard (born 1971) is a Canadians, Canadian actress, playwright, and jazz singer. Early life Menard was born in 1971 in Flin Flon, Manitoba and based in Saskatchewan. Career Menard, who is of Métis people (Canada), Métis descent, is bes ...

as Julia * Matt Baram as Brian * Chris Mackie as Fitch *Matt Hamilton as Duncan *Dean Wray as Sylvain *Demelza Randall as Sarah *

Christine Willes Christine Willes is a Canadian television, theatre and film actress who is best known for her roles as Delores Herbig on the Showtime comedy-drama ''Dead Like Me'' and Gladys the DMV demon on the CW supernatural drama television series ''Reaper' ...

as Dr. Sharp *Karen Brelsford as Dr. Beck

Production

Development

''Two 4 One'' is loosely inspired by the real-life pregnancy of

Thomas Beatie Thomas Trace Beatie (born 1974) is an American public speaker, author, and advocate of transgender and sexuality issues, with a focus on transgender fertility and reproductive rights. Assigned female at birth, Beatie came out as a trans man ...

, a trans man who gave birth to three children between 2008-2010 in place of his infertile wife. After undergoing

sex reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and alle ...

on his chest region, but keeping his internal reproductive organs intact, Beatie and his wife used artificial insemination and donated sperm to impregnate Beatie in 2007. Bradley used Beatie's pregnancy as a scientific basis from which to build the fictional plot of ''Two 4 One'', adding in the element of an ''accidental'' pregnancy to contrast the film's theme of sexual identity.

Filming

Financial backing for the film was contributed by

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in V ...

National Screen Institute The National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI; originally Canadian Screen Institute, CSI) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The organization describes itself as "Serving content creators across Canada to te ...

, and the

BC Arts Council The British Columbia Arts Council (or BC Arts Council) is a statutory independent agency supporting arts in British Columbia. The Council was created by the BC Arts Council Act, 1995. In the year ending March 31, 2018 Council distributed over C$ ...

, as well as a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

campaign on Indiegogo. Due to a limited budget and 15-day filming window, Bradley's choice to film in her hometown was both inevitable and serendipitous, with Victoria's coastal backdrop being a key feature to the film's theme of existential questioning.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews, with some praising Bradley for creating an honest and dynamic portray of the struggles faced by the transgender community, and others criticising her use of humor as a vehicle for discussing serious transgender issues. Writing for the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', Rebecca Tucker states that by placing the focus of the film on Adam and Miriam's love story, rather than Adam's sexual reassignment surgery, is "what makes the film work ... The habit f filmto focus specifically on transition –on treating the bodies’ of trans people as physical curiosities open for discussion –is wickedly dehumanizing." Bradley’s highlighting of a transgender character within "the greater context of humane experience, not just trans experience, is important particularly as a means of garnering greater acceptance, understanding, and tolerance: simply put, it communicates rather bluntly that trans people are people, too." Brad Wheeler of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' also gave the film a three out of four stars rating, stating that while "the acting is uniformly unforced and the tone is gentle throughout the turns" there is fault in how the "highly awkward situations are resolved with an efficiency that is more wishful thinking than reality."

Susan G. Cole Susan G. Cole (born February 9, 1952) is a Canadian feminist author, activist, editor, speaker and playwright. She has spoken out on a number of issues, including free speech, pornography, race and religion. As a lesbian activist and mother, sh ...

, a feminist writer for ''

NOW Magazine ''Now'' (styled as ''NOW''), also known as ''NOW Magazine'' is an online publication based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Throughout most of its existence, ''Now'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper. Physical publication of ''Now'' was suspen ...

'', describes the film as having issues with tone, stating: "this is supposed to be a comedy, but the struggles of transgendered people are very real and not funny. And writer/director Bradley gives us an easy ending that makes it look like transphobia doesn’t exist."

Accolades

At the 2015

, ''Two 4 One'' received 5 nominations, including: Best Motion Picture, Best Director (for Bradley), Best Screenplay (for Bradley), Best Casting, and Best Costume Design.Leo Awards (Retrieved on March 28, 2018). “Winners & Nominees”, Retrieved from http://www.leoawards.com/winners_and_nominees/ At the 2015 Available Light Film Festival,

Victoria Film Festival The Victoria Film Festival is a publicly attended film festival in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada running for ten days in February. The festival shows both Canadian and international films and unreels 150 films with 55 Features on 6 screens ...

, and

Vancouver International Film Festival The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October. The festival is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Fest ...

, the film won Best Feature/Canadian Fiction Film.Two 4 One (Retrieved on March 28, 2018). “Awards”, Retrieved from http://two4onefilm.com/awards/ Additional awards include Outstanding Performance, Male Category, for Gavin Crawford at the ACTRA Toronto Awards, and a nomination for Best Emerging BC Filmmaker for Maureen Bradely at the Vancouver International Film Festival. The film gained international recognition through screenings across North America and the UK, garnering award nominations and wins at: Pittsburgh LGBT Film Festival (Audience Award for Best Comedy), Chicago International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Special Jury Prize), and Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film Festival (Audience Award for Best Feature Film).

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 3516184 *
Two 4 One
' at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

2014 films 2014 comedy-drama films 2014 LGBT-related films LGBT-related comedy-drama films Canadian comedy-drama films Canadian LGBT-related films English-language Canadian films Films about trans men Indiegogo projects 2010s pregnancy films Crowdfunded films 2014 directorial debut films Canadian pregnancy films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films