Translations may not be the only trans-focused film festival but it’s one of a very few, and it’s only a jaunt up the freeway in Seattle (a shorter trip than the Netherlands at least).
As someone who enjoys taking the investigative academic approach of finding queerness in unlikely places I’m particularly excited about the very first film shown on Thursday the 8th. And it’s free!
‘Manuela & Manuel’Re-examined and Remade…[examines] the films and tv shows where transmale identities are present but not always discussed or identified. Movies such as West Side Story (1961), Set it Off (1996), and Aliens (1986) contain female-bodied characters with attributes traditionally reserved for those of a different gender.
But that is just the beginning of the diverse set of tranny film juxtapositions that should incite your gender-deviant cinephiliac enjoyment.
Friday sees She’s A Boy I Knew, an intimate journey into the coming out experience that features family footage, recorded phone calls and hand-drawn animation.
But it’s Saturday when the real raucousness begins.
True Colors: The Life and Legacy of Alexander John Goodrum follows the lives of six transmen of color while Manuela & Manuel looks to be a fabulous farce or back and forth gender-switching reminiscent of Victor, Victoria. And the night of bizarre shorts includes a Pepto-pink-happy 80s style dance-off music video from Scream Club and a sci-fi adventure that goes not just beyond gender but beyond the orbit of Neptune.
‘Toi Et Moi’ Scream Club music videoFinal festival night Sunday beings with the complications surrounding homelessness, drug addiction and accepting help from born again Christians after discovering your HIV+ status. The fest closes on 20 Centimeters, a brightly colored romp through the dreams of narcoleptic aspiring diva Marieta.
But though the movies are done the party doesn’t end there. Heklina and her crazy crew from San Francisco are back and join Ursula Android and Seattle queens in a Trannyshack party night that is sure to rock the artsy gender non-conformist in all attendees.
Presented by Gender Odyssey and Three Dollar Bill Cinema, Translations provides the Pacific Northwest with a venue for films for, by, and about transgendered and genderqueer people.
Thursday’s screening is FREE. All other screenings are $7 general admission, $6 for Three Dollar Bill Cinema members. Full festival passes are only $40 (Trannyshack club night not included) and are available through Brown Paper Tickets. Day-of-screening tickets will be available at Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Avenue.
The “Toi Et Moi” scream club video is great!! And I am relatively certain that it was filmed under the Morrison Bridge. I found it on youtube (of course):
Wow, kinda wish I was in Seattle this weekend!