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Poly on OWN for “Our America with Lisa Ling”

Tomorrow, March 5th, on Oprah's OWN network, a new episode of "Our America with Lisa Ling" will center on polyamory and various poly families. The one-hour show is called "I Love You & You... & You."

The show has been in the works since last August, when Robyn Trask, director of Loving More, was contacted by producers of the show. After some sniffing around to make sure the show would be respectful, Trask put the producers in contact with several poly families.

Ultimately, the show will feature Trask and her long-term partner Jesus V. Garcia and their partners, plus a triad from Vancouver and a quint from the Philadelphia area. The Philadelphia quint run the blog Polyskeptic. Shaun wrote a short post about the upcoming show, and Gina wrote about the process of coming out at work in preparation for its airing. Trask found the filming process to be pleasant:

Working with the producers, crew and Lisa Ling, who is an award winning journalist, was a delight. We spent three full days filming at our home in Loveland, CO. Overall it was a fun experience and very different from other TV crews I have worked with.

Two teaser videos have been released, entitled "Plenty of Love to Go Around" and "Monogamy's Not For Everyone."

"I Love You & You... & You" will air Tuesday, March 5th at 10 p.m. Eastern on OWN (use the channel finder to determine the channel number). It will re-air three hours later, and again on subsequent dates. The schedule can be found here.

Gay and poly in Manhattan

A gay triad is the subject of a new short documentary from producers Nilo Tabrizy and Suvro Banerji. Entitled Polyamorous Relationships in New York City, the 6-minute film profiles a closed triad of three men living in Manhattan (and squeezing into a queen-sized bed, no less!). The men have been together for two years, after married couple Franco and Mark met and fell in love with Vinny.

The documentary features footage of the men at home and around New York City, interviews with the triad about the multiple layers to their relationship, and an interview with research scientist Gilles Herrada.

A text description of the documentary, with many quotes, can be found on Out. Gay.net also wrote about the documentary, explaining why there's a rift in the LGBT community when it comes to relationships like this one:

Some gays are simply uncomfortable with this notion -- much like many heterosexuals -- and either don't understand the concept or simply reject it. Others in the LGBT community get angered when they hear about these relationships, thinking it's politically bad for gay people and reinforces stereotypes that we're a deviant subculture. Still other gay men have a "live and let live" philosophy towards polyamory, or feel that because we're already considered outsiders and sexual outlaws in mainstream society that we have the right and responsibility to not play by society's rules.

Media opportunities for UK poly folks

Do you live in the UK and want to participate in an art or media project? Bobbu at Polytical recently received a couple requests for UK poly folks for upcoming projects.

The first project is a portrait and still life photography project by Emli Bendixen, a London-based editorial photographer hoping to document the modern family unit. She is especially interested in the "many shapes" that families can take; one of her latest photoshoots for the project can be seen here. Bendixen can be contacted by email, phone, or Skype -- see her contact page for the info.

The second project is a TV documentary from North One Television producer/director, Ida Bruusgaard. Bruusgaard is creating a program about marriage, and hopes to include a polyamorous family as an example of an alternative to the traditional idea of marriage. Bruusgaard writes,

I’m interested in debunking the myth around the 'traditional' nuclear family. It seems to me that the idea that two people should be able to find indefinite happiness within their own four walls without much support / input / pressure taken off them by other adults, is in fact a very new phenomenon. Our homes used to be more open, with family members, neighbours and friends more intimately involved in our business. It makes me wonder whether 'privacy' and 'space' for married couples can cause isolation and trouble as much as being of benefit to a marriage.

I would love to find polyamorous people who are either married or in long term-ish relationships to feature in the documentary. I realise that a polyamorous lifestyle can be a sensitive subject, but I'd like to think it’s a chance to get a very positive message out there which will resonate with our viewers in ways they may not have expected.

Bruusgaard's contact info can be found on the Polytical post.

If you are interested in either of these opportunities and live in the UK, get in touch with Bendixen or Bruusgaard!

Documentary about triad screening May 10

Next week, the documentary "Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family" (2004) will be screened as part of the Stranger than Fiction series at the IFC Center in NYC. The documentary chronicles 8 years of a relationship between three people:

THREE OF HEARTS follows the experiment of a New York menage a trois to sustain a lasting relationship. We watch the trio go through trials and tribulations of explaining the relationship to outsiders, trying to have a baby, and running a business. Filmed over 8 years, they go through dramatic changes that raise provocative questions about relationships in general.

The screening takes place on Tuesday, May 10th at 8 p.m. and includes a Q&A with the director, Susan Kaplan. Tickets are $16 and can be purchased online.