''Skin Deep'' is a 1995 Canadian film directed by filmmaker

Midi Onodera Midi Onodera is a Japanese-Canadian filmmaker. Onodera's works feature a collage of formats, from 16mm to Hi8 video and digital video to 'low end' digital toy formats, and address individual, collective, national and transnational identities. E ...

and starring

Natsuko Ohama Natsuko Ohama is a Canadian vocal coach, actress, and director. She is a founding member of Shakespeare & Company, Company of Women, and Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company (LAWSC). Early life and education Ohama studied acting at University ...

Melanie Nicholls-King Melanie Nicholls-King is a Canadian actress, perhaps best known for playing Cheryl in the drama series ''The Wire'', and for her portrayal of Officer Noelle Williams in the drama series ''Rookie Blue''. Personal life Nicholls-King is from Toron ...

, and

Keram Malicki-Sánchez Keram Malicki-Sánchez is an actor, musician, writer, filmmaker, interactive media and virtual reality developer, multimedia artist, and event producer. He is the founder of the VRTO Spatial Media World Conference & Expo, and the Festival of Int ...

Plot

''Skin Deep'' tells the story of an award-winning director, Alex Koyama (

), who is in the process of making a film about the

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

industry, and the love and obsession that can arise in the "skin art" culture. Conflict develops between Koyama and her lesbian lover / assistant, Montana (

) when Koyama hires a new production assistant, Chris (

), who is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

and quickly becomes obsessed with Koyama.

Production

''Skin Deep'' was written, directed, and co-produced by Onodera. It was produced in cooperation with the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

, with funding from * the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

* the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural develo ...

: Multiculturalism Program * National Association of Japanese Canadians * Racial Equity Fund – OFDC & LIFT * the Toronto Lesbian & Gay Appeal

Reception

''Skin Deep'' was awarded the Best Feature Film: Audience Award at the 1995 Hamburg International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

References

External links

''Skin Deep'' at Midi Onodera's personal website
1995 films 1995 LGBTQ-related films Canadian drama films English-language Canadian films Canadian LGBTQ-related films 1990s LGBTQ-related drama films Films about Japanese Canadians National Film Board of Canada films Films about tattooing Transgender-related films 1995 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films English-language drama films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub

Plot

Production

Reception

See also

References

External links