The NYC Daily Post interviewed Christopher Lennertz in December upon his release of a short musical animation called “Pacemaker”. The film is based on his son, Tobi, played by Alex Newell, who is transitioning from female to male — or trans-FTM for short.
Trans-FTM individuals were born female but identify as male. The film was released in November during “Trans Awareness Week” and can be found on YouTube and Vimeo.
The nine-minute video portrays the struggles Tobi, portrayed in the film as the character “Cody”, has to go through before gaining acceptance from family members of his new identity, particularly his grandfather, played by Philip Lawrence.
Tobi’s plight is that of so many, if not all, trans and non-binary individuals in America, if not the world. “Pacemaker” is admirable because of the positive light it shines on this societal issue.
“We’re making this in a time where there’s a lot of anger and a lot of misinformation about the trans community. And we wanted to be able to counteract that with something that quite honestly, a studio like Disney or Dreamworks or anything, they can’t make a movie like this… they can’t have a trans character kissing another character on screen because it’s too forward-thinking [in reference] to their audience being too big….”
Christopher Lennertz, creator of “Pacemaker”
Lennertz told me his son was one of the story’s consultants for the film and even sang additional vocals in the background. “It was a tough transition for him at first, but he’s blossomed, and become such a great inspiration to [hence, Lennertz making this film] me and his friends about how to live your life and be who you are.”
This was Lennertz’s debut as a scriptwriter and director of any film. He was inspired by Tobi due to the personal nature of the movie’s theme. He wanted to share his own story rather than leave it to someone else who wouldn’t be able to tell it as authentically.
“I wanted to be able to develop and create the whole thing to tell the story I thought needed to be told,” Lennertz said.
Lennertz had help from others who did films like “Sausage Party”, “Smurfs”, “Tom and Jerry” and “Pitch Perfect”, in addition to other animators like Brian Vincent Rhodes, the co-director of the film, who worked on “Spies in Disguise” and “Nimona” just to name a few.
“Why is it called ‘Pacemaker’?” I asked. As it turns out, the grandfather is getting surgery to for a pacemaker to cure an irregular heartbeat.
Metaphorically, Lennertz’s father-in-law is a man who’s not open or curious about Tobi coming out as gay and being amorous with girls. He eventually got sick and had to be put on a pacemaker. It wasn’t until that moment that he found joy and became more curious and open to new ideas and possibilities in life.
“One of the things that jumped out to me as a story point was that when your own heart beats the way it’s supposed to be, not like anyone else’s, like it’s supposed to authentically beat, it allows you to be open to loving, understanding, being curious, and empathetic to others. . . . because yours is beating the way it’s supposed to, you’re open to other people’s beating the way it’s supposed to”.
“… so that was the story I felt like we needed to tell was that once grandad’s heart was beating the right way, and he realized what it meant when he fell in love with his wife, Abuela, in the film, then he realized [his] need to respect and honor my grandson, Cody’s, heartbeat”.
Lennertz expressed his admiration for animated films like “Encanto” and “Frozen” due to how it makes an audience of both children and adults soften their resistance to new ideas. These films are heartwarming stories that include music and dance which entertain people and include a profound message.
He attributed this kind of messaging to fairytales, songs, poems and puppet shows which include history lessons. “That’s the way to get through parents and grandparents who might not want to take a lesson. These stories appear to be less threatening, like a family story, so you can reach them much easier. “
“The way to help the world is to say, you know what, you don’t understand yet, and while I disagree, let’s see if we can get to know some characters that we know in a way that lets you walk in their shoes”.
The highly esteemed filmmaker won a myriad of awards from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival.
Lennertz’s favorite was from the LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival, due to the feedback he got from people who watched the movie and how it made them want to share it with their families to let them understand more about their lives. It made an impact.
“Pacemaker” is the first of what Lennertz plans to be many more films that directly touch on these types of social issues. He wants to eventually direct his own full-length feature film.
Lennertz is also making even more of an impact in the world through his charities, such as Music Education Charities, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and Hands Together.
Lennertz is opening doors for more films to display storylines that involve non-binary people. I commend him in his efforts to show people who aren’t receptive to more open ideas about gender and how transgender struggles are a truly human experience.
We should all be able to relate to and accept how Cody experiences feelings of love just like his grandfather did for his wife, Abuela.
Featured image: Photo by Jiroe (Matia Rengel) on Unsplash
Edited by: James Sutton
Editor’s note: The spelling of a name has been corrected post-publication.