Nashville’s Outhaus Films Debuting Their Ground Breaking Film, Invisible, About Gay Women in Southern Music at the 52nd Nashville Film Festival

Writer and director T.J. Parsell and producer Bill Brimm are introducing their latest documentary film Invisible at this year’s Nashville Film Festival on Tuesday, October 5 at 7 PM CT at Marathon Music Works. The documentary encompasses the stories of gay women in the southern music industries and the struggles they faced while owning their sexuality despite the institutionalized pushback of a male dominated field. The film features recording artists, songwriters and industry leaders such as Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Pam Tillis, Chely Wright, Mary Gauthier, Kye Fleming, Bonnie Baker, Jess Leary, Ruthie Foster, Cidny Bullens (formerly Cindy Bullens), Gretchen Peters, Dianne Davidson, Mary Ann Kennedy, Pam Rose, Cheryl Wheeler, Virginia Team, Jessie Scott, Rodney Crowell and writers Robert Oermann and Mary Bufwak (Co-authors of Finding Her Voice, An Illustrated History of Women in Country Music).

“Very early on, I started to scratch my head and wonder how much of what these women experienced was because they were gay, and how much of it was because they were women?” says T.J. Parsell. “We’ll let the audience decide, but I think women need to be represented more and the men who are in charge need to see this film.”

The 52^nd Nashville Film Festival will be presented this September 30^th-October 6^th to celebrate various human expressions through the artistry of filmmaking. Invisible will be screening on Tuesday, October 5^th at Marathon Music Works, 1402 Clinton Street.

“This is a woman’s story,” Director T.J. Parsell continues, “and even though Bill Brimm and I are both gay, we’re still men – so it was very important to us to hire women in key creative roles to help us tell this story with as much depth and understanding as possible.” The film’s Director of Photography, Sandra Chandler is a lesbian and the Editor, Emily Gumpel Clifton, is bisexual.  Invisible showcases the real-life experiences and undeniable talent of the women who busted through barriers put in place by a systemically white male heterosexual industry.

“At the end of the last reel, this is an uplifting film, because no matter how many forces seemed to conspire to keep these women down, their artistry and voices came through anyhow,” says producer Bill Brimm.

The documentary has been receiving rave reviews:

“Deeply moving.” – Linda Ronstadt

“Film is a highly collaborative art form, and one might say that Brimm’s and Parsell’s partnership is an example of the universe working in favor of the creative process by putting two artists with complementary skill sets and temperaments in each other’s paths.” – Leslie LaChance, The East Nashvillian

“Contemporary country music is finally coming out of the closet. The contributions of lesbian singer-songwriters are generally not the first thing that come to mind in the arena of country music, but some of the greatest hits in the genre are the work of gay women. Author, activist, and filmmaker T.J. Parsell brings their hidden stories, songs, and stunningly beautiful voices to light in this affirming, personal, and sensitively produced documentary” – Leah Loschiavo, Frameline