Private Project

TOPS

Fun, satirical and a pastiche of the chaotic, brash, self-deprecating and clueless 1990s/2000s British reality TV, TOPS sees TV’s Amy Pennington delve into the lives of four individuals who’ve had TOP surgery in a desperate attempt for the presenter to make their first-ever trans friend.

These four interviewees include a powerlifter and gay-games Olympian hopeful, a housing-officer-come-actor, an Essex filmmaker, and an equality diversity & inclusion specialist-slash-occasional model. They open up their lives, homes and, in one case, bag of dicks, to the invasive, neurotic and yet loveable Amy Pennington.

A genre-busting documentary which blends the real and the fiction, we’re drawn in by the question that defines trans masc experience, “What TOP did you wanna to wear after TOP surgery?”

Yet through their encounters with the interviewees, TOPS does so more than simply ask and answer this question. As well as the heart-filled yet hilarious interviews, it also explores the life of the desperate and lonely version of the artist who is willing to steal footwear and camp out in the gardens of interviewees for ultimate unencumbered access.

With abrupt unscripted comedy juxtaposed against tenderness, TOPS allows for conversations around the vulnerability of top surgery with those who’ve had it without adding to the pile of sad or gory Trans stories displayed in the mainstream media. Yes, your nipples might fall off - but you can still have a lol.

“What TOP did you wanna wear after TOP surgery?”

In this profound and intimate film, Amy meets four unique individuals: a powerlifter and gay-games Olympian hopeful, a housing-officer-slash-actor, an Essex filmmaker, and an equality diversity and inclusion-specialist-and-occasional-model. Amy's curiosity illuminates their experiences, through extraordinary unlimited access into their lives, homes, and bags of dicks. Insightful and invasive, TOPS allows audiences to fully understand the question on everyone's lips.

TOPS is a genre-busting documentary (with fictionalised elements) inspired by the chaotic, brash, self-deprecating and clueless style of 1990s/2000s British TV. Presented by an ever-so-slightly desperate and lonely version of the artist Amy Pennington, who is willing to steal footwear and camp out in the gardens of interviewees for ultimate unencumbered access and the potential of their first-ever trans friend. TOPS wants to give space to the experience of top surgery, and those that have it.

  • Amy Pennington
    Director
  • Jos Bitelli
    Director
  • Amy Pennington
    Writer
  • Archie Sinclair
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Hybrid, Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 10 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 22, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Amy Pennington, Jos Bitelli

Amy Pennington (they/them) is a northerner - they think it’s important you know that. They make films, performances and collaborative projects about class, sexuality and gender. Amy has made art with their family, residents in a care home and clients at a queer hair salon. They like wearing wigs and telling stories. Their work challenges who gets to express themselves, share their experiences and under what terms. Growing up, TV was their best teacher, so using humour and pop culture come naturally. They employ these tools to gently pull at the seams of what is ‘acceptable’ or ‘normal’, whether that is critiquing the health and wellbeing industry, what kinds of Trans stories are told, or who we imagine our queer ancestors to be.

Amy has made work within institutions as well as self-organised groups and in the public realm. They have been commissioned by TATE Liverpool, Battersea Art Centre, Studio Voltaire, PEER Gallery, In-situ,QUAD, Heart Of Glass, Left Coast, Homotopia, The National Festival of Making, Newlyn Gallery and LADA.

Their films have shown in a number of film festivals including Leeds international, GAZE, Queer Fringe! Filmpride Brighton & Hove. Where’s Danny? Won the Iris prize community award 2023. They were a finalist in screenshot 2023 a competition for comedy writer-performers hosted by Sister Pictures and South of the River Pictures.

Jos Bitelli is an artist and cinematographer working across television, film and installation. She recently launched ARTWORKERS, a miniseries produced by artist collective East London Cable of which she is a co-founding member. Her recent DOP work includes a short film by Sophia Al Maria, commissioned by fashion house Miu Miu for their S/S24 runway show at Palais D’léna.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The idea for TOPS came from a quite simple place. I wanted to wear a top but I knew it would look better on me sans tits. So it became my post-op-top and stayed in my drawer. But not content with just leaving it there, a voice mimicking a late 90s/early 2000s trash TV presenter kept spinning around my head, asking me a question ‘What TOP would you wear after TOP surgery’? And so it began …..

As a process-led artist and filmmaker, when something worms its way into my brain like that, I have to follow it and be curious. Using a blend of 4:3 to 16:9, in reference to the TV era I grew up watching, this faux-documentary style lends itself to my way of working and it allows me to feature in the film, following in the footsteps of the long history of artists and filmmakers who’ve placed themselves at the heart of their work, ala Cheryl Dunye in The Watermelon Woman.

This allowed me to retain faith that these improvised conversations we were having around sensitive subjects were full of trust. Unscripted and playful, we had all this tenderness and heart and at the same time, I wanted to keep it funny, keep it moving and maintain that energy.

By revisiting these presenter-led programs, but making them queer and trans, fulfilled something I wanted when growing up. And just as important, unlike the trash TV which inspired TOPS, was that it was the presenter, the Amy you see on screen, who was the punchline. I had to be the one that was to be laughed at. Punching up, or in this case, slightly sideways, at myself, and not down.

Humour for me has always been a comfort. There’s some really dark anti-Trans rhetoric in the UK right now, and I feel it’s more important than ever that Trans people still get to have a laugh. I wanted to show a few examples of what we are really like - with some fiction thrown in too of course - in all our messiness and silliness, as well as the harder stuff we’ve been through.