Trials and Triumphs, a shorts presentation that screened on Sunday afternoon at the Reeling Film Festival in Chicago, featured many short films that should resonate with transgender folks.
One of the things that I look at first and foremost when viewing a film with trans roles is whether or not trans actors are cast in those roles. This is something that is very important to me not only as a trans woman but in my role as a film critic.
One of the films that resonated most  was Paperock, a film written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Hillel Rate. The 11-minute short stars Tovah Wrabel and Maya Arbel as siblings Leah and Nily. Leah is Ultra-Orthodox and when her estranged brother agrees to meet with her, there’s more there than meets the eye.
Because of my Orthodox Jewish background, Paperock was one that hit close to home. For many of us, our communities reject us upon coming out as trans. Coming from personal experience, transitioning in a small religious community just isn’t an option.
In addition to Paperock, other films screened in the shorts presentation included Arianna, Dawn, Headspace, Hexed, Honor Council, Sis, and Swim.
The problem I had with Arianna is that actor Andrea Garofalo, who stars in the leading role, isn’t transgender. Garafolo is credited with the story but surely it couldn’t have been too hard in the casting process for the filmmakers to find a trans actor for the role. The film is fresh off of playing at the Venice International Film Festival.
Arianna is a lawyer and she’s out for another job interview. All she wants to do is work but the film examines what it means for transgender people to routinely be denied employment opportunities on the basis of their gender identity. The film notes that 44% of transgender people in Italy are denied employment on the basis of gender identity. Of those denied following an interview, 53% will go on to attempt suicide in Italy after being denied an opportunity.
Transgender writer-director Jake Graf had a pair of films in the presentation, Headspace and Dawn. Headspace shows just how hard it can be for a trans person to do routine things like going to the bathroom or answering the phone. These are things I can relate to; I can’t tell you the number of times people misgender me on the phone because of my voice. Headspace stars Laith Ashley, Munroe Bergdorf, Jake Graf, Kieran Moloney, and Hannah Winterbourne.
What I love about Dawn was so many excellent decisions to hide Dawn’s face until close to the end of the 13-minute film. It stars transgender model Nicole Gibson as Dawn. Neither Dawn nor Will (Harry Rundle) want to deal with their own issues. It’s emotionally moving and I would love to see Graf expand the story into a feature film of some sort. I was left wanting more of both characters.
Hexed, written and directed by Rain Valdez and Sarah Poynter, stars Valdez, Poynter, and Alessandro Nori. Valdez stars as Ashley, a trans woman who finds herself kiss-hexed by the homeless Banon (Poynter). She has until midnight to find someone to kiss before expiring. It’s amazing just how much they get accomplished in just ten minutes. Valdez passes so well that I honestly had no clue she was trans.
Scott Simonsen’s Honor Council focuses on a bi-gender student, Wren (Dane Majors), who is facing trial by the school’s council for beating up a star athlete. The film is produced by Josh Hutcherson and it’s one of those proof-of-concept films that they hope to eventually make as a feature film or webs series. I hope it gets made because there’s a lot of promise shown here. Jon Avnet and Jacob Avnet are among the film’s executive producers.
Swim was another film that hit close to home. From writer-director Mari Walker, the film won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short this past June at the Los Angeles Film Festival. The film stars Gavin Fink as Nick/Nicky, who is clearly pre-transition. Nicky doesn’t really want to go in the pool in front of others mostly due to gender issues that we find out about. Nicky’s mom discovers her swimsuit to be wet, not realizing that Nicky used it overnight during a late night swim. Actress Jen Richards plays Adult Nicky as the film comes to an end.
I didn’t have a pool growing up but this one hit super close to home. I had a lot of the same issues with going swimming because it was taboo at the time to be caught wearing a women’s swimsuit, let alone for someone assigned male at birth to be wearing their mom’s clothing!
The Reeling Film Festival will air a number of LGBTQ films in Chicago through September 28th.
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