Trans in Film and Video 3/4/24
Will Ferrell and Harper Steele on the road.
Will and Harper, the film documenting Will Ferrell and his transgender friend Harper Steele driving across the country in 17 days has been sold to Netflix after its debut at Sundance. The two have known each other since the 1990s when they were hired by Saturday Night Live. Ferrell as a part of the cast and Steele as a writer. Steele came out as a trans woman in 2022 at age 61. In an interview with Variety Ferrell said, “I had met trans people, but I didn’t have anyone personally in my life,” Ferrell said. “So this was all new territory for me. It’s a chance for us in the cis community to ask questions, listen and be there as a friend to discuss this journey.” There’s been no word on when Will and Harper will begin streaming on Netflix.
When she was 17 trans Australian director Alice Maio Mackay shot a horror film titled T Blockers. With the interruption of the pandemic holding things up Mackay, who is now 19, has released her film at long last. The plot follows an aspiring trans director named Sophie (Lauren Last) and her nonbinary best friend Spencer (Lewi Dawson) as they try to shoot a film in a small town while it’s being invaded by parasites that prey on the aggrieved by nesting in their brains. Sophie and the cast of her film are horrified by the extent of the invasion and vow to eradicate the worms.
Of course, the parasites — T blockers — exist in real life as the results of conspiratorial thinking causing people who were fairly even-keeled to start blaming other people for their dissatisfaction and failures in their lives. In T Blockers the parasites prey on the people of a small town, using their fears to infect people’s brains. T-Blockers will be released On-Demand (VOD) by Dark Star Pictures on March 5, 2024.
There’s another horror movie, this one also directed by a trans woman that will open in theaters on May 3. It’s called I Saw The TV Glow and is about two friends, a gay young woman and a young man with a mother who babies him. The two get together to watch a creepy late night TV show called The Pink Opaque. The show is canceled and that’s when the horror gets real. Check out the trailer.
Every so often it’s a good idea to take a look at the older movies featuring gender bending. We’ve all heard of Priscilla, To Wong Foo, and Some Like It Hot but a refresher course in gender focused cinema could remind one of how those well known films affected us. And there are some films lesser known films in the CBR list of 15 Gender-Bending Movies Everyone Should See.
Category: 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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