Paul & Trisha: The Art of Fluidity

Directed By Fia Perera

A a colorful documentary exploring the lives of two 77-year-old British artists living in one gender-fluid body: Paul Whitehead and Trisha Van Cleef.

  • ABOUT
  • BIO
PAUL & TRISHA: THE ART OF FLUIDITY dives into the colorful life of well-known gender-fluid British artists Paul Whitehead and his alter ego Trisha Van Cleef as they navigate their gender and artistic fluidity as two artists in one body. Early in his career, Paul Whitehead was integral to the launch of the UK Time Out in addition to being the Art Director for John Lennon. In his signature surreal style, he created album covers for music icons, Genesis, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Van der Graaf Generator, and Peter Hammill, among others. Upon moving to Los Angeles in 1973, Whitehead founded the Eyes and Ears Foundation and created the Artboard Festival where local artists could freely improvise on billboards turning their work into a novel ‘drive-through’ community art gallery. Widely recognized as both muralist and painter, Whitehead holds the Guinness record for the largest mural in the world at the former Vegas World Casino, now the Stratosphere. During the 60s and 70s at the height of “Sex Love and Rock n’ Roll,” Whitehead began exploring his gender fluidity, periodically wearing items of women’s clothing. However, not until his marriage at age 35 that his other half, Trisha Van Cleef, emerged. What earlier began in the privacy of their bedroom between Paul and his wife soon gave way to another identity - presenting to the world as a woman. Ultimately, the marriage came to an end but marked the beginnings of a completely different artistic expression and self-permission to live harmoniously as both genders. Paul and Trisha have weathered a lifetime of challenges and victories in the mercurial and competitive art world, often choosing artistic freedom over commercial exploitation. And both have faced the stigma and fear around their sexuality and genders.
Writer/ Director Fia Perera has gone to over 60 film festivals including several Oscar qualifying festivals and has won multiple awards for her short film (available on Apple, Amazon and a number of other platforms) Her feature script Mermaid has received great coverage as a SLAMDANCE 2020 script Quarter Finalist and LA Screenplay finalist. She has written over 15 plays off-Broadway in NYC and has written and produced several TV series, including the award-winning TV pilot Do The Voice. As the director of the hilarious award-winning comedy pilot Baby Steps she was able to put a refreshing spin on Brooklyn moms reinventing feminism while scraping banana off the floor. Her new pilot BAD ALICE is in post-production and will be out TBA. Fia has also written several feature films and TV projects in various development stages. Her current feature length Documentary film “Paul & Trisha: The Art of Fluidity had a successful festival run and will be released in early 2024 (original song by Peter Gabriel) Fia’s narrative feature MERMAID is currently in pre-production for principal photography in early 2024.