Pretend I'm Not Here

A trans short film that centers trans stories—by and for trans people, both in front of and behind the camera. Elizabeth arrives in the city with fierce eyes, wild hair, sharp nails, and a suitcase full of fragments of past tenderness. She drifts through encounters with men who, like cigarette smoke, warm the body, fade away, and slowly kill. Each takes and leaves something behind. Elizabeth accepts this cycle, knowing that on full-moon nights she must keep away from beaches, forests, and trousered men. The moon awakens the beast within her—sharp-clawed, born to survive, feeding on her pain. She hides it, distancing herself from flesh when it claws at her skin. But one man comes too close, witnessing her under the full moon, seeing her beast, her besta fubana, in her most fragile state.

Jean has a no nonsense attitude to both her cleaning job and her affluent clientele. But faced with the aftermath of a grieving drag queen’s night of hedonism, she is forced to confront the pain of her own loss, and the repercussions of a deep rooted prejudice. Clutter examines how loss affects us all, whether gay, straight or trans, and how we find the strength to move forward.

Farid was three years old when his beloved father disappeared. The elders whispered that he had fled Morocco for another woman, never to return. Farid grew up in the shadow of this repressed absence, got married, and embarked on a promising career. Then, a letter from Montreal arrived. The truth came crashing down, cruelly, after decades of lies: it was at the request of Farid's mother that his father had left them, and it wasn't for another woman, but because he himself aspired to be one... So Farid set out to turn back time and meet the long-awaited mother he never met.

Set over three generations and beginning with a sexually frustrated orderly during WWII who relieves his tensions in the most outlandish, gross ways. The result of his liaison is a glutton who grows up to be a champion speed eater. He produces a child who becomes obsessed with taxidermy.

A transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.

Bhanu, a high school teacher, wants to transition as a trans woman while working for a school in a small town in South India. Bhanu’s parents do not know that she is already taking hormone treatment for the transition. When her parents force a marriage upon her due to their financial situation, Bhanu gains courage under pressure. She starts to live as a woman named Bhanu with her friend Haritha's help. The school administration creates problems by not acknowledging Bhanu as a woman. As Bhanu struggles to find happiness after transition, she meets a student Karthik who is being bullied by his classmates for his feminine demeanor. Unable to withstand the bullying, Karthik retaliates by wearing makeup and nail polish to school. The school administration blames Bhanu for all the problems. How Karthik and Bhanu deal with the problems form the rest of the story.

Ji-wook is a virile detective with a reputation, but deep down in his heart, he always considered himself as a woman and finally decides to get a transsexual operation. However, his plan falls apart as vicious gang members start their revenge on him.

Just as the young members of the swimming team spend another day training in the pool, the cusp of early puberty threatens to turn innocent friendship and camaraderie into something much more. Sixth-grader Yu-Hsuan has a closely guarded secret, but this tide of feelings inside is brewing into a storm…

A man planning to commit suicide hires a taxi driver to take him to his jumping-off point.

1960s Japan—economic boom, Olympic pride, and a crackdown on “public morals.” An anti-prostitution law targets women but spares male sex workers, the so-called “blue boys.” When police arrest the doctor performing their sex reassignment surgeries, the sensational “Blue Boy Trial” begins. Three transgender women take the stand, igniting a national debate on identity, medicine, and happiness—long before the language of LGBT existed. Though the court ruled surgery legal, the verdict cast a shadow: no such operations would occur in Japan for 29 years. Half a century later, this buried history still reverberates in the lives of sexual minorities.

A rising musical theatre star struggles with his changing voice during his gender transition. With the help of a singing coach, he learns to trust himself, reclaim his career, and reconnect with the people he loves.

At an LA house party, an aspiring musician pursues her crush through a crowd of hopeful dreamers chasing empty promises.

A ghost soldier bids farewell to his mother then possesses bodies worldwide to meddle in unfaithful relationships in Taiwan, Japan, Spain and Thailand. In Hong Kong he encounters his soulmate amid protests and they take refuge in a garage.

A young man seeking his sexual identity decides to take part in the Miss France beauty pageant.

Sara, a transgender woman goes back to her remote hometown to attend her father’s funeral. She finds the village has changed greatly, and that the villagers have become extremely religious. Added to that, her mother suffers from dementia and treats her like a complete stranger.

Two drag performers and a transgender woman travel across the desert to perform their unique style of cabaret.

Izzy seeks out everything in her power to stop her partner from transitioning. Meanwhile, Michaela tries her best to be a good person.

Mabel travels to her hometown to find the murderer of her friend Daniela.

A trans woman becomes entranced by the voice of an underground audio porn star. Torn between fantasy and reality, she drifts through the neon haze of Quezon City on a journey of desire, pain, and self-discovery.

After marrying a successful Parisian writer known commonly as Willy, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette is transplanted from her childhood home in rural France to the intellectual and artistic splendor of Paris. Soon after, Willy convinces Colette to ghostwrite for him. She pens a semi-autobiographical novel about a witty and brazen country girl named Claudine, sparking a bestseller and a cultural sensation. After its success, Colette and Willy become the talk of Paris and their adventures inspire additional Claudine novels.