Partners (2018)

Using a simple interview-style, and nuanced editing, PARTNERS will present 15 partners discussing the choices they've made in deciding on their mate(s). At its heart, the film is about acceptance; a gentle message that we shouldn't judge the choices of others, just because they aren't the choices we might make. The interview subjects represent a wide spectrum of relationships. We meet two friends who married twenty years ago to raise a child. A single man talks about the fulfillment of living with his cat. Other subjects include: a couple of furries; a man in prison for 15 years and his wife who sticks by him; a Indian couple in a traditional arranged-marriage; two women who have lived together platonically for 40 years; a woman and her cuckold husband, married for over 20 years; and a male-female couple who met in a burlesque show. Partners is not scripted. The words and thoughts are expressed on the spot by the interviewees; they are honest and extemporaneous with only occasional prodding questions from the director. After closing one interview session, a woman told her long-time partner "I never knew you felt that way." Although each interview presents a singular story, what makes PARTNERS unique is the intimate time we spend with all the subjects, and how much so many of these widely varying relationships actually have in common. We hear their stories, laugh and cry with them, and generally agree that whatever works . . . works.