I

 

It’s odd now to think that when the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival was founded in 1997 it was originally named Tranny Fest  The name may have changed but North America’s first transgender film festival is even more relevant today than it ever was. It still serves this marginalised community with an ever-growing  wealth of films that promote the visibility of transgender and gender variant people.  At the same time it provides like-minded filmmakers a rare opportunity to get their work in front of the audience it so deserves. 

Queerguru believes that the Festival also provides a much needed avenue for others that sit somewhere on the LGBTQIA spectrum  to get a greater understanding of the lives of our gender variant brothers and sisters.

The Festival’s Artistic Director Shawna Virago, who  is also a celebrated transgender musician and activist, curates these short films into seven specific programs.  Each one containing a diverse selection that covers so many aspects of the transgender and non-binary  etc lifestyles

We loved Rafael Samanez” Out of the Shadows
from Program 3. It is the story Joselyn, a Mexican transgender immigrant woman, crosses the Mexico/U.S. border to flee increasingly dangerous conditions in her hometown. She attempts to adjust to her new home in Queens, New York, but finds similar oppressive conditions in the U.S. After the murder of her best friend she falls into deep depression. Joselyn finds a community of transgender women and together they fight to lift themselves out of poverty by attempting to open the first trans owned cooperative salon in the United States.

 

 

Also Tell By Date  directed by Saran Bell grabbed our attention. It’s the story of  Ryan who gives himself a deadline to tell his son that he’s not his biological father, but it’s easier said than done.

 

 

 

For the Full program  and for details how to access the filmsg o to http://sftff.org/2020-festival-schedule/