TOPS, is a genre-busting documentary inspired by the chaotic, brash and clueless style of 90s British TV, that allows audiences to ask the question burning everyone’s lips...“What TOP did you wanna wear after TOP surgery?”
Ames Pennington plays an intrusive TV presenter who delves into the lives of four individuals who’ve had TOP surgery in a desperate attempt for the presenter to make their first-ever trans friend. These four interviewees include a powerlifter and gay-games Olympian hopeful, a housing-officer-come-actor, an Essex filmmaker, and an equality diversity & inclusion specialist-slash-occasional model. They open up their lives,homes and, in one case, bag of dicks, to the invasive, neurotic and yet loveable Ames Pennington.
Yet through their encounters with the interviewees,TOPS does so more than simply ask and answer this question. As well as the heart-filled yet hilarious interviews, it also explores the life of the desperate and lonely version of the artist who is willing to steal foot wear and camp out in the gardens of interviewees for ultimate unencumbered access.
With abrupt gut busting comedy juxtaposed against tenderness, TOPS allows for conversations around the vulnerability of top surgery with those who've had it without adding to the pile of sad or gory Trans stories displayed in the mainstream media. Yes, your nipples might fall off – but you can still have a lol.
TOPS premiered at BFI Flare Festival 2024, where it was named as one of both the Evening Standard and AnOther Mag’s Top 10 picks of the festival. TOPS won the Audience Award for Best Feature at Bradford Queer Film Festival and it was long listed for a BIFA Raindance Maverick Award 2024.
TOPS is a GREY MOTH production and has been co-commissioned by Homotopia, Studio Voltaire and Islington Mill with funding from Arts Council England.