Here's what not to miss at Seattle's TRANSlations film festival

Most Fridays we take a breather from the news for a few minutes to talk about cultural events to check out over the weekend. This week, the focus is the TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Fest. KUOW’s Kim Malcolm talked to the festival's lead programmer, StormMiguel Florez.

StormMiguel Florez: TRANSlations is one of a handful of film festivals in the world that centers trans and non-binary films and stories. We've been around since 2006. It started at Gender Odyssey, the Seattle gender conference. This is the first year we're a hybrid festival. We're going to have one day of screenings in person at Northwest Film Forum, then every film will be available virtually so people can watch them across the United States.

CAER

This is an experimental documentary by director Nicola Mai, in collaboration with members of Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo in Queens. They do work that defends the rights of trans Latina migrant women. I really love this film because the director worked with the participants to tell and act their own story. It highlights their communities, and the ways that they support each other and teach each other, and not only survive but thrive together as a community.

Framing Agnes

This is director Chase Joynt’s latest film. It’s another exciting experimental documentary about a young trans woman named Agnes who entered a sex disorder study clinic at UCLA in 1958.

It also follows the case files of other patients with similar stories from that time. Those files and stories were uncovered in 2017. The cast plays those characters, and are interviewed about playing those characters.

How Not To Date While Trans

In addition to our feature films, we also have a shorts block. They're all so wonderful, but I'll talk about the short comedy, "How Not To Date While Trans." This film is a hilarious and grim look at the dating life of a young black trans woman and her three-date-rule strategy.

The film stars the director, Nyala Moon, who cleverly breaks the fourth wall throughout the film, with camera glances to talk to the audience and guide us through her journey while screening men on various dates. I'm really excited about Nyala. I think she's someone to watch out for.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.