Trans in Film and Video 11/14/22
Jordan Gray
Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs posted a defense of British transgender musician/comedian Jordan Gray who finished her act on Friday Night Live by taking off her clothes and using her penis to play notes on the piano — on live television. That sounds pretty hard to defend but let’s see what Issacs, who played Lucius Malfoy in the Potter films, has to say in her defense; “. . .magnificent boobs and equally magnificent member, with which she played the keyboard as she brought her set to a close and the entire house down.” The 1400 viewers who filed complaints with the authorities seem to disagree. But, Gray does seem to have Isaacs as a fan, as well as many others who thought it great performance art. Read a bit more about the controversy and view video of Isaac’s defending Gray in Newsweek.
Opera Tang
The Singapore International Film Festival (Nov. 24- Dec. 4, 2022) has added the R21 rated biopic Baby Queen to its lineup. The film focuses on drag performer Opera Tang who has found fame on the local drag scene since her debut as a drag “baby” in 2020. Her on stage look features striking Teochew opera-inspired makeup. The film shows vignettes of her personal life, and details her queer journey from coming-out as a fledgling drag queen to being a local star Singapore.
This past weekend was the 25th anniversary of the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival, the oldest trans film festival in the country. Two films were screened in a theater and the rest of the festival is available online until Nov. 20. One of the films, The Beauty President, looks at Joan Jett Blakk, a drag activist who ran for president in 1992.
The film T is based on the real-life story of Meghna Sahoo, who became India’s first transgender cab driver. The film picked up awards at Cannes and has now taken top honors in the India International Film Festival of Boston. The film stars veteran cisgender actor Debasish Sahu who took the Best Actor (male) award for his portrayal of Sahoo.
Being Thunder, a documentary focused on Two Spirit genderqueer indigenous teenager Sherenté Harris, is now in theaters. The documentary follows them as they perform traditional dance in competitions at annual regional powwows of New England tribes. Harris is from Rhode Island’s Narragansett tribe.GLAAD’s transgender media consultant Dana Aliya Levinson called the documentary “a moving and deeply affecting portrait of an indigenous Two Spirit teenager.” Watch a trailer on the Fandango site.
The director who helmed Coraline has a new film on the way. It’s a stop motion animation feature that stars Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key (as demons), with Angela Bassett, Lyric Ross, James Hong, and Ving Rhames, along with newcomer Sam Zelaya as a trans character named Raúl Cocolotl. The film is now streaming on Netflix. For more info on Zelaya read an interview on the Pride website.
Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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