Mykel Dicus flagging in India. (Photos courtesy Films Gone Wild)

Cheryll Allison’s new documentary finds hope in tragedy

RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com

These days Cheryll Allison is caught up in the hustle and bustle of the film festival circuit. At the time of this interview, she had just screened her new documentary, Pieces of Us, in Palm Springs. The next day, she was heading home to Dallas to open the Dallas VideoFest at the Angelika.

The struggle is real. But the struggle is also worth it so that her film gets the exposure it needs to spread its message.

“Films will often address assault but not the [victim],” Allison said by phone. “I wanted a film about the recovery and the survivor and how it helps when you have the community in support. It’s hard to watch and heartbreaking at times, but ultimately it’s a film about hope.”

Pieces of Us is a film that looks at the personal journeys of LGBTQ hate-crime survivors. In this case, Allison’s subjects are all interconnected.

Her five subjects are transgender activist and New York Anti-Violence Project crisis counselor Victoria Cruz; India’s Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, the world’s first openly gay prince; Leia Pierce, a single mother who lost her 9-year-old gay son Jamel to suicide; Jipsta, an out rapper and Brooklyn middle school psychologist who was attacked on a New

Cheryll Allison

York City subway platform with his partner; and Mykel, a performance artist attacked in his own home.

It was Mykel who first reached out to Allison.

“I’d known him as a fellow performer back in the ’90s. He contacted me in 2018, and we talked about how he was now a survivor of a hate crime,” she explained. “What he did, though, was take his recovery public and find community support and bring in organizations and reach out to other survivors.”

The prince heard Mykel’s story, and that connected them. In turn, Mykel reached out to Leia, and this network grew into a sort of support group.

Allison follows that story, through the camera. She shot the material over a year’s time, from Denver to India and had the support of an optimistic producer.

“When funding was secured for the film, Mark Von der Heide, a wonderful gentleman and a gay man, was telling me that this film needs to be made,” she said.

As Allison filmed her movie, she found these “pieces” that were interwoven into this family. She also found it to be a reminder: “This just reminded me of the humanity that exists in all of us,” she said. “If we just open ourselves up to love and see these people from different backgrounds — gay, trans, straight, bi — we still have that shared humanity.

“We live in such a divisive time, but this gave me hope.”

Allison is based in Dallas now, after living in both New York and Los Angeles. With the film industry so easily accessible digitally, she and her wife decided to move to Dallas and be closer to her family. And they jumped right back into the local queer community.

“We have a condo in Turtle Creek, right in the heart of the gayborhood,” she said. “We go to Oak Lawn UMC. We just couldn’t be happier with Dallas and the Oak Lawn neighborhood.”

And although it’s early in her festival run, Allison has some extra feels about having her Texas premiere at the Dallas VideoFest in her hometown.

“I don’t think there are words to express how I feel about that,” she said. “I have a long history with [festival founder] Bart Weiss. He’s been so supportive of my films, so it’s such an honor to be the opening night film in what is now the last DVF.”

DVF is the oldest independent festival of its kind in the country showcasing hard-to-find, independent, alternative and non-commercial media not found in conventional avenues. This year marks its 34th year and its last.

“It’s a bittersweet honor to open the festival,” Allison added. “What a history to be a part of.”

Pieces of Us screens at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Angelika Film Center. For a full lineup of films, visit videofest.org.

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Queer films at Dallas VideoFest

Sept. 30:
• Pieces of Us follows the story of hate crime survivors who connect into a found family of support. 7 p.m.
• Socks on Fire centers on a poet who composes a letter to his grandmother as his homophobic aunt and drag queen uncle wage war over her Alabama estate. 9 p.m.

Oct. 1
• Boulevard! A Hollywood Story follows Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, two young songwriters and romantic partners who find themselves caught in a movie star’s web when they are hired to write a musical version of Sunset Boulevard. 9 p.m.

All films screen at the Angelika Film Center. videofest.org.