Jan Goes to a Trans Film Festival, Again!

In 2018, I attended a transgender short film festival in Hartford, Ct. with 3 friends and we had a good time. I wrote about it in TGForum.com. There were 7 short transgender films from all over the world last year so when the festival came up again, I took up on the opportunity and attended the 2019 festival. This year there were 9 films. The transgender short program is only part of an entire week of LGBTQ films, the 32nd Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival.

The short transgender film festival was held on Sunday evening and like last year, the transgender short films dealt with a wide variety of situations . . . some focused-on children, family life, trans men and how someone might deal with situations. Here’s the web link and a short synopsis of the films. I also provided my rating of the films.

My friend Monica and I attended the festival after driving over to Hartford from eastern New York state, which is about a 2+ hr. drive. The theater where the movies are shown is called Cinestudio and is on the campus of Trinity College. It’s quite picturesque both outside and inside.

Another thing to point out is that there are many corporate sponsors which allow the show to go on.

We enjoyed the films as did an enthusiastic audience of maybe 100 or more.

You become engrossed in each film and identify the characters and what turmoil they are going thru to live authentically. I rated each film from 1 – 9 with 1 being the one I liked the best and 9 being the one which confused me the most. Purely subjective on my part.

I’ve Got to Be Me: Transgender Shorts

This is the second transgender all-shorts program! The strength, courage and aspirations of transgender people of all ages are depicted in these stories about challenge, determination and affirmation.

The films were from all over the world and were from 3 – 18 minutes in length. Each carried a significant message on a wide-ranging set of transgender related topics. The whole festival runs a whole week with a variety of films (including a few other longer transgender films) but the short transgender films were shown only on Sunday evening.

Texas Strong
Dir. Daresha Kyi, 2018, USA, 18 min
An intimate portrait of Kimberly and Kai Shappley. A mother has to confront her religious community while her 7-year-old transgender daughter navigates life at school and is banned from the girls’ bathroom.

Monica and I both enjoyed this movie. She mentioned that Kimberly Shappley was a keynote speaker at this past winter’s Keystone conference. It was good to see how well adapted Kai is. It will be interesting to see how she is able to navigate childhood to young adult to adult. I thought this was the best movie of all 9 and gave it a 1.

Something About Alex (Anders)
Dir. Reinout Hellenthal, 2017, Netherlands, 18 min, in Dutch with English subtitles
A teenager struggling with his gender attempts to reconcile with his identity.

There was turmoil and angst. It was a struggle at times to watch this. I would rate this movie as a 7 out of 9.

The Things That Make Us
Dir. Fox Fisher, 2017, UK, 3 min
A quick but bold and honest look at the effects of hormones on your body when you are a trans person. 
East Coast premiere!

This was a reality check in what hormones can do to one’s body (male and / or female) as the couple were both going through life and body changes. I thought this was a good depiction of a transgender person’s life situation. I rated this movie 6 out of all 9.

Silvia In the Waves
Dir. Giovana Olmos, 2017, Canada, 13 min, in French with English subtitles
Noa struggles to honor the identity of his recently deceased parent while his mother tries to uphold the appearance of a conventional family. Grief and fantasy entwine to reveal the complex relationship between history and erasure, identity and memory.

We enjoyed the movie, but it played with different themes: death, rebirth, transgender, acceptance and ultimately love of a family. I would give this movie a 5 out of all 9.

Briella
Dir. Emma Leslie, 2018, Australia, 7 min
Six-year-old Briella invites her uncles to perform at her gender diverse youth group. 
U.S. premiere!

I must be a sucker for young kids living their true self and finding support from family and friends. Briella knows she’s a girl at heart and It was cute to see her with her peers. I gave this movie a 3 out of all 9.

Guarding Santos
Dir. Adelina Anthony, USA, 2019, 10 min
A Mexican American child rebels against gender norms, forcing her traditional parents to make a choice about how to raise her. 
East Coast premiere!

This was a little strange. Santos wants to be thought of as a male but lives as a girl. She wants to be male because she wears her father’s tool belt. In the end, Santos is supported by family and is given a tool belt of her own. I gave this movie an 8 out of 9.

Tell-by Date
Dir. Sarah Ball, 2019, UK, 14 min
Ryan has something personal to tell his son but finds every excuse not to. He needs a deadline. 
U.S. premiere!

Assistant Director Ariel Mahler was present at the screening and spoke about the production.

This movie kicked off the evening and you feel the dilemma the father has about telling his son about his true self. The “Tell-by-Date” is an artificial but real deadline when the rest of his story can be shared with the son. I gave this movie a 4 out of all 9.

Paperock
Dir. Hillel Rate, 2017, Israel, 11 mins, in Hebrew with English subtitles
A young, ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman cannot recognize the brother she has not seen in years and realizes that in order to reestablish their bond she must accept her new identity.

Monica and I commented we both didn’t understand the movie because of the stark contrasts in location and only understood it once we read the description. It made sense once we figured out what was happening plus since it was in Hebrew with subtitles, you had to pay attention. It was good to see how the story handled transition and that the siblings revert to “rock, paper, scissors” to solve all of life issues. I gave this movie a 9 out of all 9.

Princess
Dir. Karsten Dahlem, 2017, Germany, 16 min, in German with English subtitles
When gang leader Ole and his buddies made off with Davie’s school bag, Ole could never in his wildest dreams have imagined that a short time later he would appear on stage with Davie at a school karaoke contest dressed as a princess wearing makeup. Neither could his friends. 
New England premiere!

Jan at the theater.

Monica and I both enjoyed this movie as well. It wasn’t transgender focused per se but more a focus of how someone played a part to support another and that maybe in the losing of a young male privilege is finding what it’s like to be a caring person and a good friend to another. I gave this a 2 of all 9 movies.

Monica said she cried at each of the films (just like last year). Each film had a special theme. Some were somewhat abstract. I didn’t cry but felt each film touched my soul. We both agreed that the festival stuck its’ mark and was indeed great. Would we go again? You betcha!

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Tags: featured, film, news, opinion, Transgender

Category: Transgender Fun & Entertainment, Transgender Opinion