Sylvester: Mighty Real

The social significance of singer/songwriter/performer/cultural phenom Sylvester James (1947-1888) is only now beginning to be acknowledged by social critics and theorists, not to mention the general public. In this film, Tim Smyth captures the essence of the gender-bending pioneer who refused labels and stood for self-expression and self-actualization unhampered by prevailing prejudices and oppressive stigmas related to gender expression and sexual orientation. When people tried to contain Sylvester within a box or tag him with a label, he simply and emphatically stated "I'm Sylvester" -- implying, "my essence cannot be contained." In this regard, he stood as an example for all human beings, tragedies of his personal life notwithstanding. Tim Smyth has done an excellent job of gathering both archival footage and historical reflection by those who knew Sylvester, and my only complaint is that this film isn't longer.

Dear Tim,

I'm a San Francisco based fashion designer. I was a good friend of Sylvester. I designed 15 hand painted silk pieces for him. He appeared in my garments for his European tour and on American bandstand. I have several great stories for your film.....I have several stories about the tour. I can tell you about his jewelery and how he survived after he stopped singing.I have stories about the Opera house concert, Lincoln High school concert, Design center, where he , back stage took the hand painted silk kimono off me and wore it to perform in. My brother toured with Martha Wash with their high school gospel choir all over Europe. The stories are endless. I hope this gets to you, you have no way on the official website to get in contact with you. please contact me, David Polizzi