Mr. Angel

Pioneering trans writer Max Wolf Valerio talks about his life and experience of transition in this groundbreaking documentary short, one of the very first portraits of a trans man on film, directed and produced by noted filmmaker Monika Treut.

Mari is a woman trapped in a man’s body. She tells us about life as a transsexual in Cuba and all the pain that comes with it: parental rejection, the men she’s loved who hurt her deeply, unscrupulous doctors… But she continues to fight, trying to make her life just a little better every day.

Sereena confronts stigma and stereotypes on a daily basis being a transsexual in today’s society. In this short hybrid documentary, Sereena refuses to justify who she is and turns it back onto us and asks – what do you see when you look at her and can you look past the superficial and see the real her?

Follows a young man as he travels the mountain kingdom of Lesotho showing his film in remote villages, schools and communities. Sheriff was born with a girl’s body, but as the grandmother in his film recounts, he refused to wear dresses and always wanted to play with the boys.

Serena is drawing the portrait of Enzo. In a cozy and intimate atmosphere, he tells us his story. This life is extraordinary, because it is a life of a Female-To-Man (FTM) transgender.

A true Canadian iconoclast, acclaimed transgender country/electro-pop artist Rae Spoon revisits the stretches of rural Alberta that once constituted “home” and confronts memories of growing up queer in an abusive, evangelical household.

Viviana Rocco is a photographer, visual artist, activist, model, actress and trans woman. This documentary takes us inside her life so that through her work she can show us the trans world and give voice to those who are part of a minority.

Ewa Hołuszko is a remarkable figure. In the 1980s she bore the male name of Marek Hołuszko, an active Solidarity movement activist. After 1989 she could not fully enjoy the regained freedom as the place of communism was taken by another enemy, more difficult to defeat, intolerance and exclusion. Gender change made her realize how far away Polish society is from full freedom. Nevertheless, she still believes that it is possible to live in a different Poland, free from stigmatization, persecution and prejudice against others.

THE PEARL is a cinematic and intimate portrait of four transgender women who come out in their senior years. Set in logging towns in the Pacific Northwest, the visceral, observational story explores what it means to leave behind presenting as a man.

The Story Of X takes you to the earliest days of adult films when men peddled stag reels and projectors out of the trunks of their cars, then through the movie house years to the arrival of the home video business, and now the Internet. Meet the men behind the camera, such as "King of Sexploitation" Dave Friedman and the preeminent breast man Russ Meyer. Considered pariahs at the time, they're now hailed as pioneers in the fight against censorship. The Story of X visits the 60s when women's rights, not nudity, became the issue and recounts porn's arrival in Hollywood, led by director Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris. In the 70s, several groundbreaking films, including Behind The Green Door featuring Marilyn Chambers and Deep Throat featuring Linda Lovelace, took the genre to a new level.

When Melody was a young child, 20+ years away from coming out as transgender, she developed an obsession with movies. One of her biggest hobbies was acting out her favorite VHS tapes, FBI warnings and trailers included, in front of her parents' camcorder. Mom and dad realized this was an easy way to keep their child busy. Thus, the camera became a sort of babysitter, resulting in dozens of tapes featuring Melody performing in front of the (usually stationary) camera.

Caitlyn Jenner's unlikely path to Olympic glory was inspirational. But her more challenging road to embracing her true self proved even more meaningful.

Filmed over five years in Kansas City, this documentary follows four transgender kids – beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 – as they redefine “coming of age.” These kids and their families show us the intimate realities of how gender is re-shaping the family next door in a unique and unprecedented chronicle of growing up transgender in the heartland.

When working in Tokyo, Erika embarks on the journey of stepping outside the role prescribed by her biological sex and relieving the suppressed feminine self. This film documents Erika’s life journey of gradually building up her ideal body image, including the sexual reassignment surgery (SRS). Through Erika’s experience moving between Japan and Taiwan, as well as male and female identities, the film sheds light on the unique life experience of transgender people.

Former child prodigy James Harries and his family may at first sight seem to be a houseful of geniuses, but although every single member has a Ph.D. in Metaphysics, we soon discover that some were purchased from a fake university in the USA, while the others were awarded to them by themselves. They regard themselves as morally, intellectually, and financially superior to the rest of society, even though the clan (housed in a mock mock-Tudor cottage in the middle of a Cardiff council estate) includes a convicted arsonist, an astral projectionist, a former Bunny Girl, a part-time private detective and a transgender daughter (James is now Lauren), all of whom seem to live their lives in a parallel universe.

Stonewall veterans (including prominent trans activist Sylvia Rivera) and HIV-positive New Yorkers take up residency on the Hudson River piers as cranes raze vacant buildings for a new skyline.

Many of us assume that there are only two genders and that being female or male follows from the sex of our biological bodies. Focusing on the art, photography and performances of four "alternative" gender artists Assume Nothing poses the questions: "What if "male" and "female" are not the only options?

Portrait of the last year of the life of famous New York drag queen Consuela Cosmetic.

An experimental documentary account of a butch dyke's journey to trans man, succinctly summing up the complexity of this journey in under 2 minutes.

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING 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 voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.