What a joy it is to have so many transmasculine short films premiering this year that recommending only eight was tough to do. It shows a much-needed turning point: trans men making and starring in roles for trans men. Maybe Hollywood hasn’t caught on yet, but indie queer art sure has.
Willa Justice: Drag Queen Private Eye
Written and Directed by Jonathan Andre Culliton
Scott Turner Schofield (The Blacklist, The Bold and the Beautiful) plays the dashing love interest to Willa Justice, Drag Queen Private Eye in this exceptionally fun short film of the same name. It’s an old school noir caper set in the desert of 29 Palms and starring the extremely funny and watchable drag legend Lady Chilane. Willa Justice is heartfelt, romantic, very silly, and perfectly queer. (There’s a villain called Pink Face who laments their henchpersons’ deaths by proclaiming them their “two favorite tops!”)
In what could easily have seemed like a cheesy Drag Race maxi challenge, Willa Justice: Drag Queen Private Eye gives a legitimately star-making turn to an artist who might otherwise not be given one. I couldn’t take my eyes off the Tennessee-born Lady Chilane, and her chemistry with Schofield is sexy and palpable.
“This is life for a drag queen private eye,” Willa says, introducing herself, “and sometimes the two aren’t always exactly in equal parts: meaning sometimes to solve the case, you’re gonna have to serve some messy drag.”
Willa Justice: Drag Queen Private Eye will show at Out on Film in Atlanta from Sep 26 – Oct 6.
Pace
Written and directed by Beck Williams
Pace tells the story of Remy, a trans-masc boxer hiding his upcoming top surgery from his apprehensive wife, and Joey, a boxer who took time off to transition and is now very anxious about getting back to the gym. The crux of the story is the vulnerable and loving friendship the two guys form while training together. Pace is visually stunning and Williams does a great job making each frame look gorgeous. There were several moments I wanted to print out and hang on the walls of my apartment.
But the real delight are the performances by all three leads. Bex Taylor-Klaus who plays Joey brings fidgety, live-wire energy to a character who feels he has so much to prove.
Williams, meanwhile, is a rock for Joey, but then becomes desperate and wrought in their scenes with their wife Vanessa. Vanessa could have easily been a 2-dimensional wife caricature but is instead played with nuance and compassion by Kelly Lou Dennis. And Williams and Taylor-Klaus’ chemistry together belies a true brotherhood. Pace is a knock-out.
Pace will be at Out on Film in Atlanta from Sep 26 – Oct 6.
The Device That Turned Me Into A Cyborg Was Born The Same Year I Was
Written and Directed by Chella Man
Filmmaker and activist Chella Man tells the story of what it is like to be both trans and deaf in this tale of getting his first cochlear implant. Being able to suddenly hear more like the way hearing society does is an emotional mixed bag that breeds resentment for being “assimilated” by his new cyborg attachment. The robotic soundscape feeds Chella’s inability to make human connections from the time of his childhood, shown here among his hearing family pre-transition. He is also limited by his implant once he gets it: His body can not move the way he wants it to because of having to be careful of knocking it off his head. Every facet feels limited until he finds community.
The moving way Chella Man weaves transness, deafness, the feeling of being broken and the feeling of needing an acceptable cure is expertly done.
“It is certainly not a cure,” the words on the screen read. “There is no sickness to begin with.”
The Device That Turned Me Into A Cyborg… is available to watch online.
Only for the Night
Written and Directed by LaQuan Lewis
Writer/director LaQuan Lewis does not shy away from the realities and awkwardness of gay sex in his work. In his short, Only for the Night, listless trans guy Sam finds himself looking for something lasting instead of his usual empty hook ups. At a party, he meets Anthony who sparks new romantic hope in him. But in the light of the morning, was any of it real?
Sam is socially anxious and deeply lonely. And the way other people treat him is even more isolating. The actor portraying him, Angel LaBarthe, gives a consistent look of vague repulsion and light interest to his performance that speaks to the delicate balance of seeking true love. Does he believe in it? Does he want it? Is it even possible for someone like him to find it?
Only for the Night is available to watch online.
To Write From Memory
Written and Directed by Emory Chao Johnson
There’s a unique horror to being FTM with an overbearing mother obsessed with your body. The intersection of trans identity and disordered eating is rich for creative exploration — there’s more to body dysmorphia than wanting a penis. Add on a mom who can not bear her “female” child being masculine and it’s a very special hell portrayed beautifully and painfully in Emory Chao Johnson’s To Write From Memory. The filmmaker overlays a day in the life of a trans masculine person with heart wrenching fights with their hyper-critical and narcissistic mother.
She reprimands Johnson for gaining weight and pushes for details on their diet as if their body were hers, demands they take a blood test to prove they haven’t started testosterone, and calls Johnson’s transition a “family affair.” When she doesn’t understand the English word “autonomy” and insists Johnson speak Chinese, it makes it clear she wouldn’t know its meaning in any language.
This film is, by the end, cathartic and human and finally lets the viewer and the protagonist take a breath.
To Write From Memory will soon be available to watch online.
Lost Bois
Written and Directed by Devyn Galindo
Three trans boi friends Samp, Gian and Moose eat pizza on a New York City rooftop, smoke weed, skateboard, and reminisce about the early days of transition in Devyn Galindo’s Lost Bois. The trio share dating woes –- being cheated on, dating a stripper, getting cringey text messages from exes – and contemplate the shared loneliness that hangs over their friendships. In the end, each of them are in community with each other but ultimately alone in their journeys.
Their stories and voices overlap – giggling, conversations with each other, snippets of interviews, triptychs of the three stars and shaky cam B roll. It’s not a poem, but it’s got the rhythm of one.
Lost Bois will show at Newfest36 Oct 10-22 in NYC and digitally.
ALQUIMIA TRANS
Directed and Produced by Felix Endara
Felix Endara’s short documentary ALQUIMIA TRANS includes a series of insightful, poetic, and warm to-camera interviews in Spanish with trans men of all ages from Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Puerto Rico. The interviewees are framed in small individual boxes as their unique stories of dating, family and activism overlap into a community experience.
A few men explain what it’s like to date straight women. Another explains how he wants his family to understand that being trans doesn’t mean he had a bad childhood, and yet another loves how being trans allows him to curate empathy for the whole world. ALQUIMIA TRANS is subtle, simple and effective in showcasing the sweet inner lives and varied experiences of transmasculine people.
ALQUIMIA TRANS will show at Newfest36 Oct 10-22 in NYC and digitally.
808
Written, Produced by, and Starring JJ Maley // Directed by Sierra Schnack
I recently saw Sierra Schnack’s 808 screen in front of an audience of other trans people at T4T Weekend in Fire Island Cherry Grove, and I’m glad I did.
The film follows Maley’s character Daniel, a shy transmasc person just getting used to the queer nightlife scene. They’re surrounded by bumping music, colorful lights, and more and more queer friendships blossoming. As Daniel slowly opens up and his confidence grows, we even get to see him cheekily checking himself out in a bathroom mirror. There’s kissing and dancing and drinking and general weekend fun.
But, as we watched, it slowly started to dawn on me and the audience what was about to happen. The room froze. The real plot crept in like a cold front, expertly directed by Schnack to fill me with dread. To say more would be to give away the tortured and necessary brilliance of the ending.
808 will show at Out on Film in Atlanta on Oct 3rd and will also be available online.
