Curious Films director Paola Morabito’s ‘Hair’ documentary to debut on ABC tonight at 10pm

Matchbox Pictures approached Paola two years ago to make a documentary about artists who use parts of their body. After meeting cabaret performer Paul Capsis and his shock of raven black hair, Paola knew she’d found her subject.

Paul Capsis – icon, voice of an angel, performer extraordinaire – is one of Australia’s best-known cabaret and theatre performers, who won Best Supporting Actor at the 1998 AFI Awards for his supporting role in HEAD ON. His most recent album is Make Me A King, and features covers of performers including REM, George Gershwin, Lou Reed, Nina Simone, Leo Sayer and Garbage.

Inspired by Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar, Morabito filmed Capsis as he was playing a transvestite in All About My Mother, a play based on Almodovar’s 1999 film of the same name, while paralleling that story with Paul’s relationship with his own mother, Mary.

Morabito sums up the film’s inquisition of identity with one of Almodovar’s quotes: “You are more authentic, the more you resemble the dream you have of yourself.”

The documentary is also an exploration of gender: “We all identify with our gender, but we all have both sides in us, and it’s about accepting that,” says Morabito.

Described as “complex and heart-warming”, Hair airs tonight on the ABC, 10pm. It is a story is about women and men, about brave shifts in identity, and the difficult beauty of honesty.

The Anatomy series runs on the ABC from 13th March to 27th March 2012.