Transgender Film Festival Returns to Los Angeles for Fourth Year

LOS ANGELES—Showcasing quality films created by queer, genderqueer and transgender filmmakers, the annual Los Angeles Transgender Film Festival returns for its fourth year this weekend, November 2 through 4. The 2012 LA Transgender Film Festival will feature three days of films in Echo Park, Hollywood and West Los Angeles, screening three feature films and twenty-four short films from six different countries, with encore screenings at high schools, colleges and community organizations throughout the year. From documentary to mockumentary, kung fu to sci fi, animation, stop-motion, erotica and much, much more, the Festival will span three separate theatres in the LA area over the course of the weekend. "This festival is important because films about transgender and genderqueer people are often made by outsiders to our communities," said LATFF Founding Director Kalil Cohen, M.Ed. "When transgender and genderqueer filmmakers tell their own stories, there is a greater variety and nuance of perspectives represented." The LA Transgender Film Festival was founded in 2009 by the Trans/Giving art collective, which put on performance arts events throughout southern California from 2003-2010. In its first year, the Trans/Giving film festival screened short comedies, documentaries, experimental and art films to a near-capacity crowd in Los Angeles. The short films program was then taken on the road as the Traveling Trans/Giving Film Festival, screening at colleges and universities around southern California. In 2010, the Festival expanded to one full day of film screenings in Hollywood, and a tour of many local colleges and community organizations. The 2011 Festival expanded once again, to include three days of screenings at venues across Los Angeles, an awards show, and 11 stops on the tour. This year's three-day festival weekend will start with the Festival’s Naughty Bits offering on Friday, November 2 at the Echo Park Film Center (1200 N. Alvarado St), with screenings of erotic short films and the erotic feature Mommy is Coming. The feature, directed by Cheryl Dunye, is a raunchy queer sex-filled romantic comedy set in Berlin. Dunye will be participating in a post-screening Q&A. "I am elated that Mommy Is Coming will be viewed at the LATFF," said Ignacio Rivers, who is featured in the film. "It means so much that trans existence in this film is recognized. This is a film that exudes fluidity on many fronts." "Our erotic screenings which launch the Festival on Friday night has always been a crowd favorite," said LATFF co-founder Ofelia del Corazon. "We’ve been able to have sold-out shows in pre-sale every year, and are delighted to offer it again this year to the public." Saturday, November 3, moves the Festival to The Renberg Theater, located at The Village, LA Gay and Lesbian Center (1125 N. McCadden Place), where a screening of non-erotic short films will be followed by a workshop by punk band Tribe 8 member and trans artist Silas Howard, who has premiered two feature films at both Sundance and SXSW. Howard’s workshop will walk attendees through the process of writing, directing and producing independent trans and genderqueer projects. Following an courtyard reception, the evening will culminate in a screening of Silas Howard's and Harriet Dodge's feature film, By Hook or By Crook, the presentation of the second annual Trans Luminary Award to Howard, and the presentation of the Jury Award for Best Short Film. "Nearing the ten-year anniversary of By Hook or By Crook's release, and after a decade of telling stories that focus on a variety of characters and lives often 'othered' in film, I am over the moon that LATFF is presenting me with a Trans Luminary Award," said Howard. "Coming of age in the 90’s DIY, punk queercore culture gave me the alternative resources and permission to tell stories that don't have to land huge crowds, but may open a few minds and connect in a heartfelt way with others who felt invisible. This community approach is still how I make films, including my second feature Sunset Stories, co-directed with Ernesto Foronda. We greenlight each other with our time and support, and bring out stories to the big screen; it is a powerful thing. Festivals like this let our stories live on the big screen, which rules." Sunday, November 4, takes the Festival to its final venue of the weekend, The Workmen’s Circle Cultural Center (1525 S. Robertson Blvd). A second grouping of short films will be screened, followed by trans filmmaker Jules Rosskam’s against a trans narrative, a documentary investigating dominant constructions of trans-masculine identity, gender, and the nature of community. Careful attention is paid in this documentary to the ways generation, race, class and culture impact our understandings of gender. The second annual Audience Award for Best Short Film will be presented following the screening, with a panel discussion on against a trans narrative, focusing on how trans media can be created by those in the trans community. A closing night reception will bring the Fourth Annual Transgender Film Festival to a close. "We showcase works by established, award-winning filmmakers to first-time youth filmmakers, and everything in between," said Corazon. "Our Festival loves to nurture new talent, and the positive reception and promotional support offered by our Festival has enabled filmmakers to raise money and awareness necessary to turn their short films into features." All tickets to events are $10 and are available here. Admission is free for all youth under 21. Admission to Friday screenings are 18 and over only. For more information, screening schedule and ticket sales, please click here. For press/media requests requests, please email Ofelia del Corazon here or call 323.921.8280. Pictured: An image from against a trans narrative.