The Mattachine Family, now available on digital platforms, is a feel-good comedy-drama about gay photographer Thomas (Nico Tortorella) choosing the family he wants. It goes beyond having married his husband, Oscar (Juan Pablo Di Pace), or having supportive friends Leah (Emily Hampshire), her partner Sonia (Cloie Wyatt Taylor), and Jamie (Jake Choi); its about having a child. After Thomas and Oscar foster Arthur (Matthew Jacob Ocampo) for a year, Thomas is bereft when Arthur is returned to his birth mother. While Oscar, a former child actor, takes a job in Michigan, Thomas mopes around L.A. trying to find purpose in his life. He is wary about being a dad again, but he also wants to fill the void Arthur created.
This warm film, directed by Andy Vallentine and written by his husband Danny Vallentine (based on their experiences), deftly examines gay parenthood from various angles, including surrogacy and fertility clinics. The films bittersweet nature as Thomas poignant voiceovers and photographs consider what family and friends mean will melt the hearts of sentimental viewers.
The nonbinary Tortorella spoke with Philadelphia Gay News about making the film and being a parent.
The Mattachine Family addresses identity politics coming out, being gay, as well as the politics of being a gay husband and a father. Can you talk about what being queer means to both you and your character, Thomas?
This movie came across my desk at a time when my partner and I were trying to get pregnant, and we were dealing with infertility for just about a year when I got this script. The ways my wife and I were going about trying to create life may, on paper, seem traditional, but given our relationship and who we are, it was very queer to us. We understand not everyone would see it that way. Getting this script at that time was one of those art imitating life moments. So much of myself and my current experiences were in this script. Theres a line, What does it mean to be a gay parent? and I posed that question to the Vallentines, as they were dealing with their own fertility [issues] and their own journey [to parenthood]. We had this conversation about creating life at a time when life seemed most fragile. Our experiences were more similar than different. For both myself and Thomas, we are dealing with the unconventional and the nontraditional. Every parent has a different journey bringing a child into the world, whether they are straight, gay, or anything in between. I was excited to bring a piece of myself to the story and to better understand what it meant to be a gay father through Thomas.
Read the full interview at Philadelphia Gay News
