User:Alsukim/sandbox

Controversy
In a 2017 Instagram post, Tourmaline claimed filmmaker David France took inspiration from her grant application video and used her archival research to make his documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. In a following Teen Vogue op-ed, she connected France's alleged plagiarism to the systematic challenges she faced while making the film and the continued marginalization of transgender voices. France responded on social media and through investigative journalism articles by acknowledging his privileged position, but denying all allegations.

In regards to the grant video, investigative articles written with input from France refuted Tourmaline, claiming that France had not seen the video and had only been told about the project due to its similarity to his allegedly pre-existing idea.

The archival research refers, in part, to footage of Johnson and Rivera that Tourmaline had posted without licensing to Vimeo in 2012. When the footage was taken down due to copyright claims by a third party, Lesbians Organized for Video Experience (L.O.V.E.) Collective, Tourmaline accused France of being behind the removal. France had used the footage with licensing in his documentary, and Tourmaline claimed in a tweet, “your film only exists because I put that video online.” France denied the accusation, providing documents in interviews with news sites Jezebel and Advocate that allegedly prove that he had seen those “famous,” i.e. easily found, clips in previous documentaries. However, France also admitted that he used a different, previously unseen clip included in Tourmaline’s film after attending her 2015 Cooper Union exhibit, though he claims he was aware that such footage existed prior. Despite the overlap in used footage, France cited the work he and his team did to acquire the footage themselves and the sparse use of that footage in his documentary as reasons for his belief that crediting Tourmaline is unnecessary.