''The Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore'' is a Canadian musical comedy-drama short film directed by

Laurie Lynd Laurie Lynd (born May 19, 1959, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian film and television director and screenwriter, best known as the director of the feature film ''Breakfast with Scot''. In his early career, Lynd made the short films ''Together and ...

, which premiered at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival before going into wider release in 1993. Made as an academic project while Lynd was studying at the

Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1988. Originally launched as film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for pr ...

,"Contrary fairy tale is class work". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', July 2, 1993. it won the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 14th Genie Awards.

Plot

An allegory for

gender stereotype A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cente ...

s and

internalized homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy ...

, the film stars

Daniel MacIvor Daniel MacIvor (born July 23, 1962) is a Canadian actor, playwright, theatre director, and film director. He is probably best known for his acting roles in independent films and the sitcom ''Twitch City''. Personal MacIvor was born in Sydney, Nov ...

as a

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

who approaches a surgical team (

Holly Cole Holly Cole (born November 25, 1963) is a Canadian jazz singer and actress. For many years she performed with her group The Holly Cole Trio. Background Cole was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her father, Leon Cole, was a noted radio broadcaster ...

as the doctor and

Micah Barnes Micah Barnes is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He has performed both as a solo artist and with the band the Nylons. Born in Vienna, Barnes is the son of composer, conductor and jazz drummer Milton Barnes (composer), Milton Barnes, and author, ...

as the nurse) to have his wings removed so that he can become a normal human being, after facing anti-fairy discrimination. Following a musical debate between the three, the doctor agrees to perform the surgery. As he leaves the clinic, the now-wingless fairy is initially happy to be just like everyone else around him, but soon comes to regret his decision as he belatedly realizes the unique qualities and gifts, such as the ability to fly, that he has given up by pushing his identity into

the closet ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...

Production

Michael Kennard and John Turner, in character as the clown duo

Mump and Smoot Mump and Smoot are a Canadian clown duo created by Michael Kennard and John Turner, and directed by Karen Hines. Also referred to as 'clowns of horror', they've produced interactive, improvisational plays aimed squarely at adult audiences."After an ...

, also appear in the film, depicted as reading the story in the form of a book that they have found on the sidewalk. MacIvor also wrote the film's screenplay.

Release and reception

In addition to its Genie Award win, the film received an honorable mention from the Best Canadian Short Film jury at TIFF, and won the award for Best Short Film at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

in 1993. Several years after its original release, the film received a follow-up screening at the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival as part of a special program commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Canadian Film Centre. In 2007, Toronto's

Inside Out Film and Video Festival Inside may refer to: * Insider, a member of any group of people of limited number and generally restricted access Film * ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz * ''Inside'' (2002 f ...

screened both ''The Fairy'' and Lynd's earlier film ''

RSVP RSVP is an initialism derived from the French phrase ''Répondez s'il vous plaît'', literally meaning "Respond, if you please", or just "Please respond", to require confirmation of an invitation. The initialism "RSVP" is no longer used much in ...

'', along with an excerpt from his highly anticipated but not yet completed feature film ''

Breakfast with Scot ''Breakfast with Scot'' is a 2007 Canadian comedy film. It is adapted from the 1999 novel by Tufts University professor Michael Downing. The screenplay was adapted by Sean Reycraft from the book by Michael Downing, and the film was directed by L ...

''."Inside Out Wrap-Up: Laurie Lynd and the Gay-ple Leafs"
''

Torontoist ''Daily Hive'', formerly known as ''Vancity Buzz'', is a Canadian online newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It began digital publishing in 2008 and became Western Canada's largest online-only publication by 2016. In September 202 ...

'', May 27, 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairy Who Didn't Want to Be a Fairy Anymore, The 1992 short films 1992 films 1990s musical comedy-drama films 1992 LGBT-related films Canadian musical comedy-drama films Canadian LGBT-related films 1990s English-language films Best Live Action Short Drama Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Films directed by Laurie Lynd Canadian Film Centre films LGBT-related short films Films about fairies and sprites LGBT-related musical comedy-drama films Canadian drama short films Canadian comedy short films 1990s Canadian films