26th annual SF Trans Film Festival

It’s a bit later than I was planning, but I have posted my reviews of the first four programs of short films in this year’s San Francisco Transgender Film Festival. (I didn’t review the “adult” content in Program 5.)

As of this writing, you still have 27½ hours left (until 11:59 pm on Sunday, November 19th) to catch some of these great films. Go to the website (link above), choose the program you want to watch, and you can stream them for whatever sliding-scale donation you think is appropriate — yes, even $0.00 if that’s the best you can offer.

After that, many of the films are available on YouTube, Vimeo, or other online platforms, although in a couple of cases you’ll have to write to the filmmaker and ask for a password.

Not every film was a masterpiece, of course, but I think it is a pretty good sign that the “MUST SEE” films outnumbered the “not recommended” by 12 to 4. Congratulations to SFTFF on a triumphant return to in-person screenings!

SFTFF 2023 Program 4

Program 4, Friday, November 10, 2023, 7:00 pm Roxie and streaming online

• Fernanda, dir. Mar Angélica Molina, 2021, USA, 12 min. 🙂
• Jamie’s Pond, dir. Reid Sandlund, 2023, USA, 4 min. 👏
• Masisi Wouj, dirs. Zé Kielwagen, Marcos Serafim, & Steevens Siméon, 2021, Haiti, 22 min., in Haitian Creole with English subtitles 👏
• Creating Space, dir. Ariel Robbins, 2023, USA, 2 min. 💖
• The Barman’s Daughter, dir. Shawna Virago, 2023, USA, 4 min. 🙂
• MnM, dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon, 2023, USA, 15 min. 💖
• Dilating for Maximum Results, dir. Nyala Moon, 2023, USA, 14 min. 💖

🔤 Masisi Wouj is fully subtitled, and Creating Space is open captioned. The other films are all fully closed captioned.

SFTFF Program 3

Program 3, Thursday, November 9, 2023, 9:00 pm Roxie and streaming online

[This program consists of only two short films, but they’re both excellent. See my reviews of them from Frameline47:]

The Script, dir. Brit Fryer & Noah Schamus, 2023, USA, 15 min. 💖
(screened as part of Frameline’s “Shorts: The Ace of Wands Tarot”)

Belonging: An Indian Trans Immigrant Story, dir. Amir Jaffer, 2023, USA, 40 min. 💖
(screened as part of Frameline’s “Local Legends” program)

The Script

Belonging

SFTFF 2023 Program 2

Program 2, Thursday, November 9, 2023, 7:00 pm Roxie, and streaming online

• Sir Valence Presents: Watching U, dir. Sir Valence, 2023, USA, 6 min. 🙂
• Ordinary, dir. Atlas O. Phoenix, 2022, USA, 12 min. 💖
• Papergirl, dir. Jack Warren, 2023, USA, 5 min. 👎
• A história de Mafalda (The Story of Mafalda), dir. Daniel Herz & Luis Felipe Sá, 2021, Brazil, 6 min., in Portuguese with English subtitles 👎👎
• The Little Piratemaid, dir. Luke Beatrice, 2023, USA, 3 min. 💖
• Not All Boys Look the Same, dir. Felix Conroy, 2023, USA, 5 min. 💖
• Procuro teu auxílio para enterrar un homem (I Seek Your Help to Bury a Man), dir. Anderson Bardot, 2023, Brazil, 20 min., in Portuguese and other languages with English subtitles 🚫
• Shipping Them, dir. Ryan Rox, 2022, USA, 15 min. 💖

SFTFF 2023 Program 1

Program 1, Wednesday, November 8, 2023, 7:00 pm Roxie, and streaming online

[Sorry for getting this out so late in the week, but the good news is that many of the films are available on the filmmakers’ website or social media.]

• Auntie Chris Signs of Rivers, dir. Marrok Sedgwick, 2023, USA, 6 min. 👏
• If I Cannot Feed All the Hungers of the World, Do I Still Hold Value?, dir. Ray Isaak Bleau, 2022, USA, 3 min. 🫤
• City Folx, season 1, ep. 1, “The Ads,” dir. Rae Dawn, 2021, USA, 6 min. 💖
• House of Enigma/迷之住所, dir. Slade Warnken and Ying Dai, 2023, USA, 11 min. 💖
• Prittyboi, dir. Nicolas Collins, 2019, USA, 4 min. 👏
• Gender Euphoria: Trans People in the Bay Area, dir. Alex Sharp & Mia Florendo, 2023, USA, 7 min. 💖
• At Water’s Edge, dir. Sean Dorsey, 2022, USA, 4 min. 👏
• Last Call, dir. Drew de Pinto, 2021, USA, 4 min. 👏
• Chiron, dir. Rachel Rambaldi, 2022, USA, 6 min. 🙂
• Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs in Their Limpias, dir. Roberto Fatal, 2023, USA, 14 min 👏

San Francisco Transgender Film Festival 2023

Well, folks, it’s festival time again, this time the SF Trans Film Festival. Tonight was opening night, with a program of 10 short films that ranged from good to great. Tomorrow will have two programs, 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm at the Roxie, with the final two programs in those time slots on Friday. The whole thing will then be available online for streaming from November 11 to the 19th, a full week plus the weekends on either end. Check it out at SFTFF.org!

My reviews of individual films will follow soon.