Tonia, a transgender German visual artist, comes to New York City, where she meets Franz, an American academic working on a new exhibition on German author Ronald M. Schernikau. They talk politics, art, and love, go dancing, fuck, protest, and organize alongside their friends, Paul, Erika (a transwoman and musician), and Helmut (a transmasculine political radical).

In times like these, we turn to artists and radical resisters to express and share their actions and creations in ways we find resonant, provocative, comforting, and/or challenging. From public calls to action through peaceful demonstrations and “guerrilla” performances to deeply personal conversations in private places, this lineup offers us ways to see ourselves as belonging to each other in and through radical resistance, which often begins with owning the meaning of who we are to ourselves.  

Join us for a conversation about the impact and process of casting transgender characters. The casting process should start in the conceptualization and writing, with an understanding of the history of representation in the medium. Panelists will explore the nuances of decisions filmmakers have to make throughout the writing and production process, and the impact of these choices on actors, productions, and audiences.

Think of Billy Tipton, Jackie Shane, and many other trans people through out history hidden and many erased. MARK is a nonlinear, historical fiction account of a transmasculine classically trained clarinetist, husband, father, and friend who might have existed. Mark’s personal documents were obsessively produced, constructed, and archived in a hopeful attempt to prove that he was here.

Far too often we are dramatized as tragic, deceptive, and villainous. We are fetishized and exploited as objects of the cis gaze. The cultural imagination consumes us when we overcome obstacles, so they can celebrate our bravery and authenticity. Joy reminds us not to inflict this violence on ourselves. Catharsis acknowledges and allows us to release the pain of this violence. By telling our own stories, we radically claim our birthright to take up space and celebrate the power of our bodies, desires, and futures. 

OUT LOUD chronicles the ups and downs of the first season of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, the largest group of transgender and gender-nonconforming people anywhere in the world who come together regularly to sing. As the choristers gear up for their 2016 public debut, they share their life stories and reveal what it means to be trans in America. This extraordinary chorus doesn’t just make music—it’s making history.

Join creator Dave Quantic and moderator and past interviewee Sam Berliner as they discuss the evolution of the FRUITBOWL project and the creative process behind both the podcast and the FruitBite video series. Sam and Dave will discuss the similarities and surprising differences that have emerged and talk about the unique perspectives that members of the trans community bring to the table. 

This exquisitely filmed documentary follows the exceptional life of 20-year-old Kelet, a Finnish Somali trans woman living in Helsinki who dreams of becoming a model in Vogue magazine. Winner of the Audience Award at the DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, this story explores trans rights, racism, beauty standards and gendered norms in society.

As the new frontier of entertainment, episodic web series are naturally well positioned to represent genders and sexualities in formation. These four series hand-picked for Translations employ humor, wit, and expressive visuality to present the cutting edge of culture.

In this documentary about friendship and perseverance, three young transgender women from El Salvador and Honduras go on a 2,400-mile journey with the high-profile migrant caravan.

“The only constant in life is change,” philosophized Heraclitus of ancient Greece. This series of shorts explores what trans people know all too well: that life is a movable force where traditional attitudes, institutions, and internal stresses must be challenged to BE WELL.

In this engrossing drama, undocumented Olivia spends her days taking care of Olga, a Russian-Jewish grandmother in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When the man she’s secretly paying for a green-card marriage backs out, she becomes involved with Olga’s grandson Alex, a handsome but troubled young man who doesn’t realize she is trans. The winsome Olivia, played by director Isabel Sandoval, draws viewers into this story of love and survival as a transgender woman trying to live her life with joy and strength.