Program 6: Shorts Grab Bag

Eli is a queer transmasculine person who starts driving for a rideshare company to pay for top surgery. He quickly learns that he has to pass as a cisgender male for emotional and physical safety. The problem is that he wasn’t socialized as a male and lacks the nuance of being a ‘man’. His nightly route starts by driving his best friend Niki, a professional dancer, to the strip club where she works. With each new passenger, Eli’s performance of gender shifts and unfolds. The film explores the ways in which queer and trans people survive in the gig economy and navigate gender socialization.

Ace Fusion combines Bachata culture, Queer Culture and Afro Latin DJ. With Ace’s favorite TV show growing up.

A woman wakes up, noticing her facial skin is peeling off. In fear, she walks up to a mirror to look. Simultaneously, in a world on the other side of the mirror, a man covered in ice and snow, wakes up. “The ice man” represents a part of her identity she has neglected. He reaches out to her through the mirror to assist her transformation. As her old skin sheds, a new identity emerges.

“Claude” is a window into the life of Her, a trans woman struggling with connection. We meet Her as she prepares for a date, addressing an unseen figure in her room as she gets ready. When she leaves, it’s revealed that she’s been speaking to her stuffed rabbit Claude, the constant in her life and the one who sees her completely and in her most vulnerable moments. What ensues is a mix of the mundane and the turbulent, the pieces of her life that can only be seen by Claude in her bedroom. From emotional hangovers and crippling isolation to tender video calls with her mother who lives far away. Enter boyish Him, presumably a lover from Her past. As he slips back easily into Her life, watching their seemingly comfortable rapport, Claude witnesses his owner try to balance life, pleasure, and even violence. Never seeing anyone’s face besides Claude’s unanimated one, the audience is invited to really lean in and pay attention to a woman and a story that often goes untold.

Rowyn Judd’s journey of self-discovery and transformation unfolds through dance and music. Before and after top surgery, Rowyn’s movement expresses the complex emotions of gender affirmation and the joy of reclaiming his body. Walking Progress is a moving testament to the power of trans resilience. Through intimate choreography and an original song, Rowyn’s journey unfolds, capturing the vulnerability and ultimate triumph of living authentically.

Frankie wants to pay their rent, go to work, and be a good roommate but is hijacked by their love for weed.