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No Ordinary Man is an in-depth look at the life of musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Complicated, beautiful and historically unrivaled, this groundbreaking film shows what is possible when a community collaborates to honor the legacy of an unlikely hero.


For decades, the life of American Jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. In No Ordinary Man, Tipton’s story is re-imagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero. Together, the filmmakers join Tipton’s son Billy Jr. to reckon with a complicated and contested legacy: how do you tell the story of someone who was hiding in plain sight yet desperate to be seen?

  • Year
    2020
  • Runtime
    84 minutes
  • Country
    Canada
  • Director
    Aisling Chin-Yee, Chase Joynt
  • Producer
    Sarah Spring
  • Cinematographer
    Léna Mill-Reuillard
  • Editor
    Aisling Chin-Yee
  • Sound Design
    Lynne Trépanier, Marie-Pierre Grenier