January 17, 2018 | Theatre,

“Before you could look that word up on the Internet”

 

Just South of Del Mar is Torrey Pines beach and state park, home to the Torrey Pine, a rare and beautiful tree that only grows on these sandy bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. The train tracks run parallel to the Pacific on nearby cliffs. As a child, I lived several blocks from Torrey Pines and often spent time there boogie boarding, throwing rocks at train cars and counting pelicans.

Torrey Pines is a film I have been working towards creating since 2007, when I co-wrote and recorded the song “Torrey Pines” with Kimya Dawson. We toured the world, playing the song. People connected with it, they came up to us after shows, telling personal stories of mental health situations in their own families. They told us about being queer in small towns, feeling alone and isolated.

Torrey Pines is for queer punks, trans youth and people who struggle with mental health issues in their lives. Itʼs about being transgender, before you could look that word up on the Internet and find others like you, for people who grew up without much money and used their imaginations to escape and find safe spaces. It’s for people who like to build cardboard forts and go on adventures that take them far beyond the worlds they already know.

• Clyde Petersen, Torrey Pines director

 

 

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Torrey Pines – FEB 14 – 17 – @ Emerson Paramount Center, Jackie Liebergott Black Box