David B. Moye
LOS ANGELES (TNA) – The subject of illegal immigration has been covered from almost every single angle, but, so far, little has been said about the effect that undocumented workers are having on gay Americans.
But one film is tackling the topic: an indie drama called "Maple Palm," which is about a lesbian couple – a blonde-haired woman and her Hispanic partner—and one of the women is illegally in the U.S.
The film blows stereotypes about illegal immigrants out of the water within the first 15 minutes – and that’s just what director Ralph Torjan intended.
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| Actresses Andrea Carvahal and Deborah Smith share a tender moment in "Maple Palms" |
He was inspired to write the drama after discussions with a close acquaintance who is an immigration attorney.
"Back when gay marriage was in the news, my friend pointed out that a straight guy can order a mail-order bride from another country," Torjan said. "But what does a gay person do when he or she falls in love with a person from another country?
"For a straight person, the rules are based on love, not the education level of a person – but that’s non-existent for gay couples."
Torjan estimates as many as 40,000 American gays are in love with a person who’s not a legal citizen, and, in the interest of drama, he decided to make the undocumented member of the couple Canadian rather than, say, Mexican.
But in order to keep the element of surprise, the actress playing the Canadian cutie, Deborah Stewart, chose not to use a Canadian accent on words like "aboot."
"I chose not to do a Canadian accent because my character has lived in the U.S. for 15 years," said Stewart. "I know people from Canada who’ve been here for years and lost their accents long ago."
Although gay rights and immigration rights are both hot button topics, Torjan doesn’t want "Maple Palm" to be seen as an "issue film" or just a date film for same sex couples.
"My desire wasn’t just to make a gay or lesbian movie," Torjan said. "I wanted to make a mainstream straight movie. I wrote this before ‘Brokeback Mountain.’"
He is filled with pride that the film has been well-received by straight Americans. Torjan previewed "Maple Palm" for a group of straight movie fans and was pleased they were moved to tears.
He credits the reaction to the performances of Stewart and her co-star, Andrea Carvahal, who he says had chemistry together early in the audition process.
"The actresses had to have a strong chemistry, so we’d understand what their characters were fighting for," he said.
Stewart says the onscreen chemistry was there off-camera as well and that she and Carvahal got into character by buying the commitment rings worn by their characters in the film.
The chemistry is most apparent during a love scene early in the film. Although some might assume Torjan included the scene early in the movie to help find a distributor, he says some consignment companies have rejected the film because the nude scene shows two women instead of a heterosexual couple.
It’s a hot scene but Torjan says it has an artistic purpose.
"Early in the film, there had to be something that shows what’s at stake for the characters," Torjan said.
There was a lot at stake for Stewart, as well, especially since she had never done an onscreen love scene with a woman before.
"We did a lot of blocking out the shots beforehand," she said. "We had to make sure we were into it and having orgasms and making sure that the camera didn’t catch too much while it was overhead."
Torjan admits he expected there would be controversy surrounding the film, but is surprised to get criticism from the gay community, not the straights.
"I’ve had some gays tell me that gay immigrants don’t deserve rights until gay Americans get there," Torjan said. "But the point is that it’s the American gay who is being denied her rights—the right to love the person she chooses."
"Maple Palm" is currently out on DVD and Torjan is now working on a prequel to the film: a straight romantic comedy that includes Stewart and Carvahal’s characters as neighbors to the leading characters.