VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: Cole Doman On ‘Mutt,’ Trans Rights At Sundance Premiere

In the film Mutt, we follow Feña (Lio Mehiel), a young trans man, as he navigates high school and relationships in New York City. One such relationship is with his ex-boyfriend, John (Cole Doman).

In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Doman revealed the scene that was most meaningful to shoot.

“There’s a scene where we are in a laundromat after our night and it’s pouring rain and we run into the laundromat and we’re soaking wet and Feña wants to change and I have a dry shirt in my bag and Feña is shy about showing me his top surgery,” he said. “And to me it’s like shocking cause I’ve seen this body for years and years and years and so there’s an almost grieving that John has over this body that he once loved but also the support and love for the body that Feña now has and wants to have and it’s like lived in real experience and so it was just a moment of really connectedness where there’s so much going on but it’s just the two of us and we’re looking at each other and we’re like, I’m going to share this with you.”

Doman also discussed the relevance of the film’s message today.

“There’s tons of anti LGBTQ rights movements especially for the trans community and I think what’s so amazing about this film is that it’s showing fullness of a trans person and specifically a transmasculine person which we don’t see as much in media and I think right now this is the perfect time for this film to come out,” he commented. “It’s really going to cause create this ripple effect I think of empathy and love because here’s Feña meeting these people who don’t know them in this new experience and this whole time he’s been afraid to ask for love in this as this new person and it really takes just meeting someone where they’re at and asking for that love and support to hopefully receive it and so I think it’s leading with empathy and you might feel a certain way but if you could just but love is more powerful.”