A documentary adventure about men, real men called James Bond and their lives in the shadows of the world’s most famous spy.

It is Jamaica 1952 and author Ian Fleming needs a name for his suave, deadly and sophisticated secret agent hero, ‘007’.

Taking the name ‘James Bond’ from an American ornithologist’s book, Fleming’s random decision not only turns the name into a global phenomenon – it changes the lives of men across the world who share it. From director Matthew Bauer, a brand new documentary feature The Other Fellow now chronicles the dramas, adventures and expectations of being some of those men, real men called James Bond.

From an Englishman handling school in the 1970s, a gay New York theatre director, an African-American Bond accused of murder, a Swedish 007 superfan and one woman caught up in it all – The Other Fellow follows their and others efforts to navigate a life in the shadows of 007.

‘If Errol Morris, Christopher Guest and Daniel Craig made a strange, weirdo, hyperactive baby – he would be The Other Fellow.’

Matthew Bauer, director – The Other Fellow

“Everything you expect is common to them all”, says The Other Fellow‘s Australian film director Matthew Bauer. He set himself the creative mission to tell the disparate – and not so disparate tales – of a bunch of real-life James Bonds. Titled The Other Fellow after the self-effacing remark made by fellow Australian George Lazenby in his only 007 outing On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), Bauer wants to steer the audience – and possibly some of his subjects – through and beyond the easy misconceptions about being named after such a global icon as James Bond.

Bauer’s own other agenda is about working against what folk expect. “The film is about identity” he observes. His James Bonds have all shared experiences – the same school stigmas, first date disbelief and unamused bank clerks and doormen. But it is the unique, angry and poignant experiences where The Other Fellow reveals its curveball surprises and becomes more than just an obvious role call of chaps called James. In an era of self-presentation and how many of our social media personas are steered on a daily basis, The Other Fellow chimes with all our perceived identities.

The Other Fellow will receive its World Premiere at New Zealand’s Doc Edge Festival in June 2022 before unfurling the newest James Bonds movie across the globe.

More news to come.