#trans documentary

[sparklefartstheunicorn]

Have ya'll seen this? Will Ferrell's best friend (and coworker) decided to transition, and when she told him, he suggested they film a road trip documentary together. It's called Will & Harper, our Sept. 27

[angela-thompsonn]

Always wished to be fucked real hard by a pretty trans with a big cock? Reblog and DM🥰💐

[variousqueerthings]

we have always been here: documentaries about trans people

documentaries about trans people, starting in the year 1953. I don't speak to filmic quality or whether or not something is problematic, what matters here is simply the testimony and the stamp of existence (including in those where the subject matter is spoken about, rather than getting to speak for themselves)

(I haven't seen every one of these yet, so some of them have slightly shorter texts to go along with them)

while (as you'll see) most of these are US-based movies, they are from all over the world. I'd be curious about whether there are any focused specifically on the intersection of transness and disability, I don't personally know of any, although of many speak to issues with access to healthcare (for example southern comfort)

all the ones that have links connected to them are watchable for free

some of these can be watched for free on the archive, youtube, vimeo, many could do with a few coins thrown their way: many of the movies, for example the the aggressives can be rented on vimeo, transgender tuesdays is free on youtube but accepting donations for trans women of colour, lotus sports club is doing festivals currently and is accepting donations to support the team and the vulnerable trans (now men) who have had to leave it to find work, call her ganda is accepting donations to support the family's legal costs in bringing justice for their daughter

remember, finding the stories that have been graciously shared is one thing, supporting our community is the next step

glen or glenda (1953): the first known movie about trans people, a mixed-media semi-fictional account (US)

the queen (1968) (US): following drag-queens at a national beauty pageant two years before stonewall, including footage of crystal labeija (US)

change of sex (1979-1999): a five-part series following trans woman julia grant as she tries to access gender affirming care via the gender identity clinic (UK - available on BBC iplayer)

paris is burning (1990): documenting queer people in the ballroom scene, community, competition, and challenges (US)

shinjuku boys (1995): following five young men who work at onabe bars, which cater to women, as they try to make ends meet (Japan)

transexual menace (1996): snapshots of the melting pot of trans life in new york, from famous faces, to protest, including several immigrants to america from columbia, west africa, japan, hawaii, and germany (Germany/US)

you don't know dick: courageous hearts of transsexual men (1997): about several trans men in different walks of life, who chat about their experiences, politics, and history (US)

the brandon teena story (1998): a documentation about the murder of brandon teena, using testimonies from the people involved (US)

southern comfort (2001): follows robert eads in the final year of his life, before he died of initially treatable ovarian cancer (US)

superstar in a housedress: the life and legend of jackie curtis (2004): a portrait of jackie curtis, one of the earliest punk pioneers, by (mainly cis) people who knew her (US)

screaming queens: the riot at compton’s cafeteria (2005): a rare documentary of the time featuring the voices of trans activists, about the pre-stonewall compton's cafeteria riot (US)

beautiful darling (2005): a portrait of candy darling (one of the trans woman superstars of the 60s) from the perspective of the (mainly cis) people who knew her (US)

the aggressives (2005): centered on black studs, mascs, and trans men, and more, exploring the term "aggressives," race and gender, filmed over five years (US)

Jayne County: man enough to be a woman (2005): a performance by veteran punk musician Jayne County and her band (UK/US) (excerpt)

beautiful daughters (2006): following a group of trans women who performed the vagina monologues in 2005 (US)

still black: a portrait of black transmen (2008): a series of interviews following black trans men speaking about their lives, careers, race, and gender (US)

the advocate for fagdom (2011): a series of political testimonies by queer activists, including the punk musician vaginal davis (US)

she said boom: the story of fifth column (2012): a documentary about seminal 1980s queercore punkband fifth column (Canada)

TRANS (2012): following a series of trans people at varying places in their transition, and the people around them (US)

hide & seek (2013): a group of trans people in pakistan speak about their experiences with the language they have access to (Pakistan)

before the last curtain falls (2014): transexuals and drag queens in their 60s-70s touring a show called "gardenias" (Germany)

mala mala (2014): following a number of trans people in puerto rico from all walks of life (Puerto Rico)

queercore: how to punk a revolution (2017): a primer to the history of queercore with interviews of some of the people who created the scene (US)

laerte-se (2017): a portrait of the underrated visual artist laerte (Brazil)

a year in transition (2018): 20 year old arab-american trans man documents one year of going on hormones (US)

call her ganda (2018): the story about the murder of a trans filipino woman named ganda by a us marine and the repercussions (Philippines)

indianara (2019): indianara is an activist fighting for trans survival and rights in brazil (Brazil)

disclosure (2020): going through a history of trans representation in the media (US)

transgender tuesdays (2020): featuring trans people talking about a groundbreaking gender-affirming clinic that opened in the 90s in the san franciscan tenderloin district (US)

prayers for sweet waters (2021): three trans sex-workers who live in cape town discuss their experience during covid (South Africa)

the end of wonderland (2021): follows erotic photographer tara emory as she goes through changes in her life (US)

travesía travesti (2021): the last performance of a cabaret during the chilean revolt of 2019 (Chile)

casa susanna (2022): documentary about the 50s summer retreat for male crossdressers and trans women (US)

la vida es un carnaval (2022): in a rural town, a group of trans women plan the first gay pride during its annual carnival and a bunch of scar tissue comes up (Mexico)

this is not me (2022): two young transmen in iran with supportive families share their daily lives (Iran)

lotus sports club (2022): a football club in cambodia run by trans man pa vann and a safe space for trans boys and lesbians (Cambodia)

nel mio nome (2022): four italian transmen share their thoughts, experiences, and identities (Italy)

the dads (2023): a group of dads of trans kids meet with the father of matthew shepard for a fishing trip (US)

kokomo city (2023): intra-community, celebratory documentary centering black trans sex-workers in america (US)

[sootends]

girlz to men: a documentary about trans men

i found this while searching around on youtube and thought youd wanna see.

R.I.P. CHEVY <3

[keyki421]

So I watched a very interesting documentary called Kokomo City.

I didn't like it.

What annoyed me how so many of these trans women think it's a gotcha to cis women, to sleep with their bf or husbands. Like, you aren't shaming cis women. In fact you are actually demeaning yourself, by basically saying you are okay living in the shadows. You are okay being the side girl for the rest of your life. You are basically saying you are okay with not experiencing real love or a real relationship. Cause these men don't claim you publicly. They won't leave their spouse for you. Sadly, they might actually hurt you, if you ever exposed their situation with you. So why are you so desperate to please the same men, that will hurt you.

The documentary just came off as an attack on cis women. Like these trans women were really bragging about sleeping with cis women's bfs or husbands. As if they are getting back at the women. We need to stop acting like a cheating bf or husband is the fault of the spouse. It's the fault of the man who isn't being honest and truthful. They are the ones who are lacking, not their spouse.

I turned it off half way through. Cause I was so tired of it. I want to learn about the lives of trans women, but what I'm not gonna do is sit through a film that does nothing but attack cis women, because we were born actual women.

[undercovercannibal]

WILL FERRELL and HARPER STEELE in the documentary WILL & HARPER (2024)

[theangelofmydreams]

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele for the LA Times. Photos by Raul Romo.

[celluloidrainbow]

PARIS IS BURNING (1990) dir. Jennie Livingston A vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City’s ball scene. Made over seven years, the documentary offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion “houses,” from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary performers like Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza, it is a celebration of the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community. (link in title)

[numnum-num]

Queens at Heart, 1967

[variousqueerthings]

FROM YOU DON’T KNOW DICK: COURAGEOUS HEARTS OF TRANSSEXUAL MEN (1997) - trans men discussing what it means to be trans and a man

Stephan: Being a transsexual man is different. It’s truly different. I didn’t grow up a boy. I can’t go to all the same places as those guys have been and will go. And yet turn it around and put me into a group of women, where I used to fit into that, and I don’t fit there anymore either.

Max: Some of us feel like we become man and then we kind of leave being transsexuals behind, because it’s a transition place. And I understand that, but I think what really happens, what I feel really happens, is more sort of a shifting of identity. You know, where man becomes more important at some point than transsexual. And it’s not so much that you give up the transsexual and you take on the man, it’s just that the man part of that compound becomes more important.

James: But I don’t like the term “genetic men” as opposed to transsexual men. Because I’m genetic too. And we don’t know where transsexuality comes from. It could be genetic, who knows.

Stephan: I think the transgendered community has to live with an ambivalence and ambiguity that most other people don’t have to live with. Maybe biracial people live with it in another way. And that’s where I live. I live in this ambiguous, ambivalent place.

Michael: I might be totally wrong about this, but it seems to me that transsexuals are the only ones that really know what’s happening on both ends of the [male and female] spectrum [of experiences].

Max: I don’t know at all what it is to be a woman, and in some ways I do know. Both things are true. That is the strange nature of this, and the power of this ultimately, I think, is that two things that simultaneously cancel each other out can be true at the same time, and are true.

Michael: Now I’m kind of accepting my history as a female, the female part of it. The part of my life that I lived as a female outwardly, and I kept the little boy inside – somehow I kept him alive, and he stayed alive until I could bring him out.

[queerism1969]

[undercovercannibal]

WILL & HARPER (2024)

[hacked-wtsdz]

So tired of jk rowling demonisation. Yeah the woman hates trans people. She also spent amounts most of y’all have never seen on humanitarian causes and charities. She is not a one hundred percent horrible person deserving of shunning. Are people allergic to nuance

[shegoestoeleven]

“I dream of a world where I can lay my vulnerabilities out there - open for everyone until they are my strengths. I am longing for this.”

~ Harper Steele, Will & Harper