Media Library

Listed are the films (shorts, documentaries, feature length films) and other media installations in our video library. 

Gender Reel, is open to lending out videos, although the ability to do so is contingent on copy write regulations and permission from individual film and video makers.

Videos not available for loan are listed in red.

If you are interested in talking with Gender Reel about loaning out a video for an event, screening, workshop, etc., please contact us at genderreelfest@gmail.com.

We are also open to connecting you with the video maker directly.

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2011 Films and Media Programs

All That Sheltering Emptiness: A meditation on elevators, hotel lobbies, hundred dollar bills, the bathroom, a cab, chandeliers, cocktails, the receptionist, arousal, and other routines in the life of a New York City callboy. All That Sheltering Emptiness explores the typical narratives of desire, escape and intimacy to evoke something more honest. (2010; 7 min; Filmmakers: Gina Carducci and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore). (2011 GR Fest)

Angel: In Paris everyone knows him as "Mujeron" (Big Woman) but his real name is Angel. A former boxer from Ecuador, Angel is now a transsexual prostitute in France. His mission in life is to support his family back home. Now, after five years away, the time has come for him to see what his help has achieved. In his first trip home since he left Ecuador, Angel is confronted with the harsh reality of his country and an ambiguous relationship with his family. Angel is a compelling insight into the complexities of identity and the economic struggle in Ecuador. But above all, it is the touching story of a remarkable individual and his fight for justice and acceptance. (2011; 62 min; Filmmaker: Sebastiano d'Ayala Valva). (2011 GR Fest)

Bella Maddo: One of the things the transgender community has long complained about is having cispeople playing trans roles in films and not getting the opportunity to do the reverse. This groundbreaking film  features an all trans cast of men, women and children, and flips the casting script with trans actors playing non trans roles. In the film, a pregnant sociopath compulsively values thinness over caring for her young daughter and unborn child. This dark-comedy, soap-opera style film is about an aging, vain and selfish mother; the perfect blend of Joan Crawford and Dina Lohan.(2010; 22 min; Filmmaker: Janice Danielle).

Coy: This short film is based on a zine of the same title written by A. Hoelscher, and explores gender queer identity and the meaning of getting dressed for a gender variant person. (2011; 2 min; Filmmaker: Link Ross).

Dokka Dokka: An optimistic story of a little boy who is questioning his gender. Lyrics in Japanese without subtitles in order for the viewer to concentrate on the destructive yet joyful visuals which also leaves the story open to interpretation. It begins with the boy asking his mother “why did I have to be born into this body?” His mother supports his choice of gender reassignment but cautions that “acceptance won’t come easily.” The boy’s metamorphosis concludes with his transition into the “Annie-like” marionette character from the opening credits. (2010; 3 min; Filmmaker: Barry Morse).

Don't Smoke In Bed: A dirge rendition of Nina Simones Don't Smoke in Bed sung by gender queer musician/performer Jules Gimbrone. Dancers sway along in a teasing and misleading display of the power and mournfulness of the femme identity. (2011; 6 min, 14 sec; Filmmaker: Emily Rooney). (2011 GR Fest)

Envisioning Justice: A short documentary about the life and work of Pauline Park, a transgender activist based in New York City.

Genderbusters: In their fight for the Gender Evolution Revolution, the Genderbusters drive around resolving the gender-binary dilemmas of folks all over San Francisco. (2010; 6 min; Filmmaker: Sam Berliner).

Keisha Knows: A film noir inspired by the intense love affairs of lesbian pulp-fiction novels. Addressing hetero-normativity, “Keisha Knows” is not just any love story – but one that explores what is at stake when a community is divided. (2010; 8 min, 7 sec; Filmmakers: John Dargan, Mosey Diaz, Jesse Graves, John Hernandez and Tash). (2011 GR Fest)

Heart Breaks Open: A model queer activist and poet Jesus prides himself in his work with the Seattle LGBT community. At the same time, Jesus is having unprotected sex and cheating on his trans man partner Johnny. Jesus’s world implodes when he discovers that he is HIV positive, forcing him to confront his innermost fears, his relationship, his community, and a future living with HIV. (2011; 81 min; Filmmaker: Billie Rain).

How Do I Look: This documentary is an LGBT artistic empowerment, HIV/AIDS awareness community project and an art in education program, focusing on the members of the national Ball community that took their talents outside the Ball scene. The film captures the Ball communities talents, the assets of this very creative and trend setting community and takes you inside this 35 year old Harlem tradition. (2006; 74 min; Filmmaker: Wolfgang Busch).

It’s A Wonderful Transfag Life: Chest surgery is scary!  Luckily for this transfag his Diva Fairy Queen comes to save the day, reminding him of all the joys he can look forward to in the near future.   (2008; 12 min, 11 sec; Filmmaker: Luce Capco Lincoln).

Lili Longed to Feel Her Insides: This puppet-based film was inspired by the life of Lili Elbe, a trans woman and artist in the early 1900s. Elbe died due to complications with an experimental surgery that would have "allowed her to be a mother". The film was conceptualized by Adelaide Windsome, who performed the piece under the name Geppetta. The film features the song "Medicine" from a stick and a stone's album Pal Nightly  (2011; 5 min; Filmmaker: Wren Warner).

Misadventures of Pussy Boy: This short captures the experience of an FTM high school boy seduced by a hot femme. (2000; Filmmaker: Alec Butler).

My Crazy Boxers: This short film highlights the experience of a gender-non conforming butch in a psychiatric facility. (2011; 10 min; Filmmaker: Krissy Mahan).

No Hetero: Disrupting the Hegemony: This film exposes the pervasive homophobia that exists within Black communities. This film explores how rigid views around sexuality have become perpetuated and embraced through the church, general cultural norms, and traditional family structures.  Notions of expected gender roles, hetero-normativity, and definitions of black masculinity are also discussed. (2007; 40 min, 8 sec; Filmmaker: Taryn Lee Crenshaw).

Perception: An experimental animation exploring the disconnection between the filmmaker’s perception of self and how ze is seen by the rest of the world, specifically facing the journey of transition from female to male. (2010; 1 min, 28 sec; Filmmaker: Sam Berliner). (2011 GR Fest)

Said & Done: This is the documentation of a sexual encounter between two friends, Asher and Link. Our goal is to show non-fetishized representations of trans* bodies and queer sexuality. (2011; 7 min; Filmmaker: Link Ross).

Sexing the Trans Man: As an icon of popular culture, Buck Angel's message of empowerment through self-acceptance and being sexually comfortable in your own skin has struck a passionate chord with folks all over the world. This film not only inspires people to think outside the box, it re-defines gender by educating an entire generation on the fluidity of sexuality and identity politics. (2011; 55 min; Filmmaker: Buck Angel).(2011 GR Fest)  

Spiral Transition: A compelling, candid, interwoven documentary exploring the filmmaker’s relationship with his mother and how this relationship is changing and evolving as he transitions gender. (2010; 6 min; Filmmaker: Ewan Duarte). (2011 GR Fest)

Taryn Lee Crenshaw: It’s Just Me, speaks to the intersectionality of identity. Crenshaw’s photos give physical representation to those that express non-normative sexualities and cross gender boundaries, and focus on ethnic minorities in an effort to explore the realities of people who struggle with multiple oppressions.

The Gender Sticker Project: This documentary explores the negative effects of the gender sticker on the SEPTA Transportation pass. The film consists of personal interviews, footage of Riders Against Gender Exclusion (RAGE) demonstrations and actions, as well as multi-media art created by people in the trans and queer community. (2011; 9 min; Filmmaker: Wren Warner). (2011 GR Fest)

This Door Swings All Ways: This short film looks at how gender influences our sexuality and how we label it. (2011; 2 min, 10 sec; Filmmaker: Koomah). (2011 GR Fest)

Todos/Todas Somos Familia (All of us are family): A short Spanish language documentary film about a group of parents from around the world whose love, support and respect for their gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and gender queer children inspires them to create powerful connections with each other and their families. (2011; 13 min, 58 sec; Filmmaker: Marcos Dávalos). (2011 GR Fest)

Tomboy: A tomboys dream to follow her own hoop dreams makes her a college basketball star and the publisher of the first ever women-in-sports magazine. Tomboy is an autobiographical account of an African American tomboy’s journey of success and self-determination. (1997, 5 min, Filmmaker: Donna Carter). (2011 GR Fest)

Transforming Pixels: The title of a new work created by Artistic Director of Contact Inc. Lenine Bourke and Social Justice Photographer Melly Niotakis. Ten transgender and/or gender diverse people living in South East Queensland collaborated on this project. Transforming Pixels was a space where folks came into each other’s lives to learn photography, share skills, ideas and experiences and most importantly explore the various aspects that were common and different among the group. (2011 GR Fest)

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project film shorts: SMOLDERING ENCOUNTERS: A Black femme reveals the inspiration for her kink/fetish desires in a Tantalizing burlesque of CUT & PASTE.  A bike kid wakes from dancing dreams of body modification in THE WINK & THE PUCKER.  The percussive palms of butch and femme hands are a CALLING CARD for desire.  A call for HELP WANTED takes a gender-queer Asian’s experience with interviews, the cultural and social impacts of unemployment. ¿TIENES HAMBRE? follows a hungry Latin butch to the taco trucks of East Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood where she has a romantic encounter.  A playful encounter between a femme and a gender queer boy occurs at a Vietnamese restaurant OVER PHO. The dynamic swagger of 007 Secret Agent J. Wong clashes with the brazen jiggle of her nemesis in LABELS ARE FOREVER.

50Faggots—How Gay Do You Want to Be Today?: An online, longitudinal and auto-ethnographic documentary series that educates audiences with the unprecedented access to the lives and experiences of effeminate male activists, artists, professionals and educators perspectives rarely discussed within most cultures. By offering individual alternatives to dominant constructions of American masculinity and heteronormative gay lifestyles, this film illuminates the on-going issues relevant to queer communities. (2011; 56 min, 9 sec; Filmmakers: Randall Jenson and Meredith Zielke).

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2012 Films and Media Programs

Against the Grain: This film follows the story of Seyi, a cultural organizer, artist, healer, Nigerian and Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) candidate whose spirit is transcending gender. The film traces their journey including hormone replacement therapy – testosterone – and the path of understanding identity as gender non-conforming or Tako Tabo (womyn/man). Filmmakers: OluSeyi & Betty Yu, 2012, 6 min

Akin: With haunting suburban visuals backed by the rich sounds of Toronto based-band Ohbijou, Akin powerfully engages in a relationship between an Orthodox Jewish mother and her transgender son as they navigate silent secrets of a shared past. Filmmakers: Chase Joynt & Brooke Sebold, 2012, 8 minutes.

Bye Bye Babybox: This film was originally conceived as the promo video for a fundraiser that would raise money to assist a Houston-area FTM in getting a hysterectomy. The concept was simple, a transguy has a dream (or maybe it’s a nightmare) about being pregnant. Presented humorously through sight gags, a quirky doctor, and dreamlike randomness the film brings humor to what would be a potentially frightening and uncomfortable situation for some transguys. Filmmaker: Koomah, 2012, 7 min, 12 sec.

Gloucester City, My Town: This animated short explores the life of a working class, gender non-conforming person. Filmmaker: Krissy Mahan, 2012, 4 min. Q & A with filmmaker to follow screening.

Gold Moon, Sharp Arrow: Adapting Stanley Milgram’s 1963 experiment on obedience to authority, this film explores how queer communities reenact, resist, and respond to assimilation, coercion, and trauma. Filmmaker: Malic Amalya, 2012, 12 min.

Makes Me Want to Believe: This experimental short is a queer love story filled with hotness and heartache.Filmmaker: Sarah Barnard, 2012, 2 min.

Present Continuous: By tracing the feelings of loneliness and isolation, this experimental film questions the connotations of the mundane. Filmmaker: Bo Luengsuraswat, 2007, 4 min.

Transsexual Dominatrix: This music video is about power and surviving outside the gender binary in an economy based on a gender binary. Director: Shawna Virago, 2011, 3 min, 52 sec.

I Am Trans: This short film was originally conceived for the TransPeopleSpeak.org project. The film is about a man's estranged relationship to his family and his acceptance of that as just one piece in the larger fabric of his life — a life he chooses to fill with love. Director: Mashuq M Deen, 2012, 4 min, 43 sec.

Sisterhood: This short documentary examines the lives of a group of Latino trans women who work at a beauty salon in Bronx, New York. Filmmaker: Mikajlo Rankovic, 2012, 11 min. Q & A with filmmaker to follow screening.

A Difference: A Difference is a short non-fiction video that examines the intersectionalities between gender transition and racial difference. Transmen of color as well as white transmen are interviewed in this mix of answers to ’what does it mean to transition from being (read as) a white women to being a white man as vs transitioning from being (read as) a woman of color to being a man of color? Filmmakers: Raymond Rea & Zion Johnson, 2011, 18 min.

America’s Most Unwanted: America’s Most Unwanted is a candid short documentary about 3 queer youth who recently emancipated from foster care and their stories of homophobia in care, resiliency and survival. Director: Shani Heckman, 2012, 21 min.

Transpass: This short documentary exposes the negative effects of the gender sticker on the SEPTA transportation pass in Philadelphia. The film consists of personal interviews, footage of Riders Against Gender Exclusion (RAGE) demonstrations and actions, as well as multimedia art and music created by people in the trans and queer community. Filmmaker: Wren Warner, 2012, 16 min, 20 sec.

Facing Mirrors: The first-time transgender film from Iran features two people from opposite backgrounds and social classes accidentally brought together to share a journey. Situations in the film run from tragic to touching as they forge an unlikely friendship. Filmmaker: Aynehaye Rooberoo, 2011, 102 min.

Austin Unbound: From the age of three, Austin knew that his female anatomy did not fit him. In middle school, he changed his name and began to dress as a boy. His family thought it was a phase, but he persisted. Now he will get surgery so he can breathe freely and finally, swim in public. Austin Unbound is the first documentary about a man who is deaf and trans. Director: Eliza Greenwood, 2011, 43 min.

I Am The Queen: The film follows three transgender Puerto Rican teenage women as they prepare to compete in the Cacica Pageant, a transgender pageant organized by Vida/Sida to promote the integration of transgender Puerto Rican in the Humboldt Park community of Chicago. The young women share their lives, hopes, and dreams as they prepare to compete in the pageant. The film also highlights the life o Ginger Valdez, an older transgender woman who coordinates the pageant. Filmmakers: Henrique Cirne-lima & Josue Pellot, 2011, 74 minutes.

The Sisterhood: Hazendal Wine Estate farm hands Hope, Rollie and Pietie are not your typical South African vineyard workers. Hope aspires to winning the local drag queen pageant, Rollie dreams of a husband and retaining the local drag queen crown, and Pietie struggles with his religious upbringing while obsessing over his roses, chickens, and pigeons. These transgender vineyard workers confront prejudice at every turn, from their own farming communities, other transgender people and the world at large. Together Hope, Rollie, and Pietie manage to find the fabulous in the fraught and offer a portrait of triumph in togetherness rather than loneliness in victimization. Filmmaker: Roger Horn, 2010, 74 min.

TRANS: This extraordinary documentary is about men and women and all the variations in between. Inspired by the incredible story of Dr. Christine McGinn and her important work as a transgender surgeon, TRANS provides an up-close and very personal vision into the lives, loves, and challenges of a remarkable cast of characters of all ages and from all walks of life. Director: Mark Schoen, Ph.D., 2012, 93 min.