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., in ASL without subtitles πŸ‘

Black man signing in ASL
Auntie Chris
Marrok Sedgwick does an ASL interpretation of Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” If you know a bit of ASL, or if you know the piece by Langston Hughes, it certainly helps, but even if you don’t, the signs are expressive enough to give you a sense of the feeling, even if you don’t understand the exact meaning. (One hint, though: if you touch your thumb and forefinger together, pointing downwards, and tuck something into an imaginary pocket right at your solar plexus, that is the sign for “soul” or “spirit.”) Highly recommended.

• (no website or social media found) •
If I Cannot Feed All the Hungers of the World, Do I Still Hold Value?, dir. Ray Isaak Bleau, 2022, USA, 3 min. 🫀

abstract image of a person in the teeth of an animal skull
If I Cannot Feed
A demisexual non-binary femme finds themself in their Prime of external beauty. They are wearing a red dress, but slowly disrobe while suggestively playing with a pomegranate, and then takes long looks in the mirror, all with a poem repeating in voiceover. It didn’t really make sense to me. Not horrible, but not particularly recommended. On the other hand, you can watch it for free at the YouTube link below, so give it a watch if you’re curious.

• watch on YouTube • website: RibCageStudios.com [not currently operational] •
City Folx, season 1, episode 1, “The Ads,” dir. Rae Dawn, 2021, USA, 6 min. πŸ’–

two drag kings look at a laptop
City Folx
Two under-employed drag kings are struggling to hold onto their Mission-area apartment, with the landlord badgering them to come up with the rent. In this episode, they are screening applications for a possible roommate in a bid to stave off eviction a little while longer. Very funny, even while dealing with the very real drama of trying to find a roommate. MUST SEE. Season 1 is available for free on YouTube, and Season 2 is in the works.

• IMdB • website: CityFolx.com •
House of Enigma/迷之住所, dir. Slade Warnken and Ying Dai, 2023, USA, 11 min., in English and Chinese with both English and Chinese subtitles throughout πŸ’–

person in a fabulous dress
House of Enigma
Two artists, one in Chicago, the other in Shanghai, explore their gender expres­sion through their performances and their outfits. The double subtitles make the film accessible to a maximally broad audience. It’s a beautiful and interesting observation of gender in two very different cultures. MUST SEE.

• website: SoftCageFilms.com •
Prittyboi, dir. Nicolas Collins, 2019, USA, 4 min. πŸ‘

two people in formalwear playing with a shopping cart
Prittyboi
A docu-style music video, following two lovebirds on a romantic getaway as they traverse the beautiful Bay Area: a thrift shop, a play fight with ice cream cones, driving around Marin, and lots of shots of familiar local landmarks. Pretty and sweet, highly recommended.

Prittyboi screened in the “Homegrown: Perfect Day” shorts program at Frameline 46 (2022).

• IMdB • website: NicolasCollinsFilm.com •
Gender Euphoria: Trans People in the Bay Area, dir. Alex Sharp & Mia Florendo, 2023, USA, 7 min. πŸ’–

part of a building with words «Gender Euphoria: A feeling of joy and comfort in your gender»
Gender Euphoria
This documentary explores a bit of the diversity of the local trans community, particularly around the Trans March, April 4, 2023. The term “gender dysphoria” is familiar to anyone who has spent any time around trans and gender non-conforming folks. It’s a medical diagnosis many have had to receive in order to get hormones or other gender-affirming treatments. It is remarkably refreshing to see the flip side, gender euphoria, the glorious feeling of finding yourself and loving your gender and your gender expression. Very well made (particularly impressive for a film student!), even though I wasn’t able to spot myself in the background of any of the Trans March footage. MUST SEE.

• website: FreeStyleAcademy.rocks • watch on YouTube •
At Water’s Edge, dir. Sean Dorsey, 2022, USA, 4 min. πŸ‘

two dancers at the water's edge
Sean Dorsey
A dance by two queer artists, one an Emmy Award-winning choreographer. I’m usually not big on non-narrative film, but this one definitely works. Highly recommended. It is part of “The Lost Art of Dreaming,” a multi-year project by the amazing Sean Dorsey. 

At Water’s Edge screened in the “Oh, You Pretty Things!” shorts program at Frameline46 (2022). KQED also ran a related short, Sean Dorsey Dance: Dreaming Trans and Queer Futures, as part of the KQED Arts series, and it also ran in the “Homegrown: The Sun Tarot” program at Frameline47 (2023). 

I highly recommend all of the above!

• IMdB (Sean Dorsey) • website: SeanDorseyDance.com •
Last Call, dir. Drew de Pinto, 2021, USA, 4 min. πŸ‘

black and white facial portrait
Last Call
The Covid pandemic claimed far too many lives, but the Lockdown also claimed the lives of some queer bars that were stalwarts of the San Francisco scene for decades, and came very close to taking a few more. Last Call is a nice memento of some lost and imperiled spaces. Highly recommended.

• IMdB (Drew de Pinto) • website: DrewDePinto.com •
Chiron, dir. Rachel Rambaldi, 2022, USA, 6 min. πŸ™‚

«CHIRON» in large standing letters in an alleyway
Chiron
Jordi is called by their connection with the spirits to go to the river in ceremony and in ritual. It was interesting, but I had the persistent feeling that I lacked the context to understand a lot of the visual metaphors, so it was a bit unsatisfying. Recommended.

• IMdB • website: EarthToJordi.com • watch on YouTube •
Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs in Their Limpias, dir. Roberto Fatal, 2023, USA, 14 min. πŸ‘ 

one person scowls at another who is facing away
Digital Curanderas
The main character, a queer, non-binary Latinx Indige­nous curandera (folk healer) (River Gallo, pictured right), has finally decided to join most of their family and friends in uploading their con­scious­ness to Digisphere, an eternal virtual life system. The hitch: in order to upload, you have to have someone sign as “next of kin” to take care of what remains of your mortal self. The only candidate is a somewhat estranged friend who is militantly anti-Digisphere, but in return they want a limpia, a spiritual cleansing.

The concept of the Digisphere is similar to a couple of current mainstream works, but Digital Curanderas takes a look from a fresh cultural angle at the intersection of multiple marginalized communities. It’s interesting and worth seeing, highly recommended.

The star, River Gallo (pictured right), has been in a couple of other films, including this year’s Every Body (review pending) and 2019’s Ponyboi (not yet reviewed, but now available for streaming!).

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