Translations Film Festival Kicks Off This Thursday!

The 16th annual Translations Film Festival is back for its 2nd year of virtual/digital programming and it starts Thursday, May 6th for a weekend long run (though you have until May 11th to finish any film you started by end of day May 9th). Produced by Three Dollar Bill Cinema, it’s a showcase of films made by and for the Transgender community and allies.

And, all shorts program films are viewable outside Washington State or even the U.S. and feature films are viewable nationally!

Go HERE to snag tickets/passes.

Films to check out:

Opening Night: NO ORDINARY MAN
LIVE Q&A w/ directors and special guests MAY 6 @ 8:00 PM
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt; 2020; Canada; 83 min.This groundbreaking, collaborative doc is a creative look at the life of 1950s- and ’60s-era American jazz musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Working with a who’s who of trans performers, artists, and writers—including Marquise Vilsón, Kate Bornstein, Zackary Drucker, Susan Stryker, and Ryan Cassata—directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt (whose short FRAMING AGNES won an audience award at Translations 2019) paint a uniquely kaleidoscopic portrait of a man who spent his life onstage—but hid in plain sight.

ALWAYS AMBER
Lia Hietala and Hannah Reinikainen; 2020; Sweden; 76 min.; in Swedish and Italian with English subtitles
This intimate, observational doc is a rare, vérité-style glimpse into the secret and public lives of teenagers, and the complicated webs they weave. It presents a year in the life of Amber, a Swedish teenager, and Sebastian, their best friend, as they explore gender transition and fluidity. Carefree and social media savvy, Amber and friends transition physically and emotionally as their sense of selves and relationships with one another unfold and evolve.

GENDERATION Includes pre-recorded Trans Histories panel
Monika Treut; 2021; Germany; 88 min.
In 1999, Monika Treut’s GENDERNAUTS was one of the first documentaries about the transgender movement in San Francisco. Twenty years later, the director seeks out the pioneers of that time. How have their lives evolved? How have aging and a shifting landscape affected them?

MY NAME IS BAGHDAD
Caru Alves De Souza; 2020; Brazil; 96 min.; in Portuguese with English subtitles
In a working-class neighbourhood in São Paulo, Brazil, gender-defying teenager Baghdad trots around with skateboard in hand, socializing both with the boys at the local skate park and a fun-loving family of tough, emancipated women. Baghdad is finding out who they are and who is worth their time. When a group of girl skateboarders show up, Baghdad wonders if perhaps these new friends hold the secret to another way of living.
CONTENT WARNINGS: IMPLIED VIOLENCE, DEPICTION OR DISCUSSION OF RAPE, HOMOPHOBIC AND SEXIST LANGUAGE

DRAMA QUEEN
Sắc Đẹp Dối Trá Kay Nguyen; 2020; Vietnam; 91 mins.; in Vietnamese with English subtitles
One of just a few Asian films featuring a transwoman actor, this lighthearted, action-packed adventure stars Huong Giang (Miss International Queen 2018) as Duong, a struggling stuntperson making barely enough to survive. One day, Duong discovers a life-threatening conspiracy that causes them to go into hiding from criminals. On the urging of a friend, Duong secretly signs up for gender-affirming procedures in Thailand. Soon after, her estranged father suddenly falls ill, and the financial burden causes Duong to risk anonymity by entering a cis beauty pageant in hopes of winning the grand prize to help pay the hospital bills. Can she claim the crown while staying one step ahead of the mob?
CONTENT WARNINGS: IMPLIED VIOLENCE

Opening Night: NO ORDINARY MAN
LIVE Q&A w/ directors and special guests MAY 6 @ 8:00 PM
Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt; 2020; Canada; 83 min.This groundbreaking, collaborative doc is a creative look at the life of 1950s- and ’60s-era American jazz musician and trans culture icon Billy Tipton. Working with a who’s who of trans performers, artists, and writers—including Marquise Vilsón, Kate Bornstein, Zackary Drucker, Susan Stryker, and Ryan Cassata—directors Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt (whose short FRAMING AGNES won an audience award at Translations 2019) paint a uniquely kaleidoscopic portrait of a man who spent his life onstage—but hid in plain sight.