Filmmaker Shaleece Hass the writer/director of Real Boy one of  the most compelling and poignant transgender documentaries last year, is stepping behind the camera again. She is  producing a series of short films for the ACLU & Little By Little Films called Trans In America which will highlight transgender people across the country fighting for their civil liberties.

The first one is TEXAS STRONG and is an  intimate portrait of Kimberly and Kai Shappley: a mother has to confront her religious community while her 7-year-old transgender daughter navigates life at school, where she’s been banned from the girls’ bathroom.

 

 

CHICAGO LOVE is the story of how Eisha Love was incarcerated in a men’s jail after acting in self-defense. Now, as she rebuilds her life and continues to process the impact of her incarceration, she faces the challenge of trying to get a steady job as an out trans woman with a criminal record. 

 

 

Written and directed by trans filmmaker Cary Cronenwett  who said “Eisha’s story highlights a broken criminal justice system with rates of incarceration through the roof, where people are held without trial, where jails aren’t safe for anyone — and are particularly dangerous for trans women. I hope these films move people to act. We need laws that better support people as they reintegrate into society after incarceration. We need more humane treatment of prisoners and less incarceration.”

These and the 3rd film in the series are streaming now on TeenVogue and Conde Nast’s LGBTQ+ platform, THEM.