Translations Film Festival: May 8-11th! Get it together!

Rae Spoon, the Canadian transgender singer-songwriter is the subject/star of MY PRAIRIE HOME screening at the Translations Film Festival on Friday, May 9 at NorthWest Film Forum.

Did you know that Seattle is one of the only places in the entire world that has a Transgender Film Festival? Translations enters it’s 9th year of providing bad-ass groundbreaking films. We are totally queer spoiled brats in Seattle and you’re a fool not to take advantage of this amazing event.

Let me tell you a little bit about last year to get you excited. I ate an entire pizza by myself on the first day of Translations 2013. I ate pizza while I ran cables, I ate pizza while I ran the films in the booth, and I ate cold pizza when I took down the sound system at 1am. I even ate pizza during the awkward few hours when the Harvard Exit was showing a film before the festival started, but all of our gear was on stage so someone had to watch it. While I guarded that gear and ate that pizza, I sobbed through “The Place Beyond the Pines.” I had never heard of this film and there were only 2 other people in the theater, so I cried freely. There were tears of joy that in a few hours, Seattle would unite to celebrate transgender culture, history and community. There were tears of exhaustion from laying hundreds of feet of XLR cable from the balcony to the stage. There were tears of nervousness for the premier of Gender Failure, a show that Ivan Coyote, Rae Spoon and I had worked so hard on. And there were some tears in there for Ryan Gosling’s character as well. I mean, he looked hot with all those tattoos. I had so much fun last year, even as I worked my ass off.

This year I don’t have to do shit at the fest, so I bought myself a pass. I thought about volunteering, but honestly, I am excited to go sit in a movie theater for 4 days and watch queer films. The price of a pass is so reasonable. $65 for the WHOLE FESTIVAL. That’s a crazy deal. That’s like 2 drinks at Linda’s, some hot wings and a pack of cigarettes, with a decent tip. You should come join me.

Let’s talk highlights: My Prairie Home: Rae Spoon’s documentary about growing up queer in the prairies of Alberta, which is basically the Texas of Canada. Rae grew up in a Pentecostal home with a Schizophrenic father, some oil rigger uncles and a whole lot of siblings. This film premiered at Sundance! I cannot wait to see it.

Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger. One time in college, I drove Kate Bornstein from Bellingham to Seattle. She had given a lecture at W.W.U. and apparently I was the only one with a car (it was a gold minivan that used to belong to my grandma) and I had to wake up at like 6am to drive her to Seattle for some reason. It was VERY INTIMIDATING, even at the age of 19. I’m sure we had some awkward conversation and I was probably still drunk from the night before. Kate Bornstein is a beautiful genius and she did not deserve to have to ride in my grandma’s old minivan, but she took it in stride. I cannot wait to see this documentary either. She is a cultural icon and a complete badass. If you don’t know who she is by now, you need to get it together girl!

The Naked I: Insides Out  I went to Fairhaven College, so I am terrified of Spoken Word and Performance Art, having spent several years seeing many of may classmates disrobe and spout pontifications on their souls. But I talked to Sam, the programmer for Translations, and they assured me that this was not bad spoken word show. The description for the show is “queer and trans monologues and multimedia performance art spectacular.” So I’m gonna be there to celebrate all of our voices and all of our stories and I might smoke a joint for social lubrication and to help the event be even more spectacular. I know I will learn something and have a fantastic time. As many of you know, I’m kind of a judgmental prick, but so are most people in Seattle. You’re going to find something you love at Translations. You might see something that you didn’t like, but you’re going to LOVE complaining about it with your friends later on. I mean, when did you ever go to a film festival and bat 100%. To quote a guy I met tonight at the Northwest Film Forum, “I was expecting to see my boring music video I have seen 100 times, and a bunch of crap. I was pleasantly surprised. That was a great collection of films.” Right on bro. Pleasantly surprised or totally stoned, Translations Festival welcomes you to come as you are. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE AND CHECK OUT THE FULL LINEUP.