All films in this program are closed-captioned. <a href="https://sftff.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/TS_program2024_digital.pdf" target="_blank" class="ql-size-huge">2024 SFTFF Digital Program</a>

Eli is a queer transmasculine person who starts driving for a rideshare company to pay for top surgery. He quickly learns that he has to pass as a cisgender male for emotional and physical safety. The problem is that he wasn't socialized as a male and lacks the nuance of being a 'man'. His nightly route starts by driving his best friend Niki, a professional dancer, to the strip club where she works. With each new passenger, Eli's performance of gender shifts and unfolds. The film explores the ways in which queer and trans people survive in the gig economy and navigate gender socialization.<a href="https://www.heymanfilm.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.heymanfilm.com/</a>-----Kai Tillman is a trans non-binary filmmaker and activist whose working class background and years of living on the fringe, has inspired their passion and dedication to grassroots filmmaking. This knowledge and experience has led them additionally into mentoring and training houseless and marginalized youth. They were selected for two workshops in Cuba hosted by Abbas Kiarostami in 2016 and Werner Herzog in 2017. Their short films have been screened in over 30 film festivals internationally including, Locarno Film Festival, Outfest LA, Frameline, and Musée D'art Moderne de Montréal.

English

Hey Man

While navigating between steamy Grindr hookups and their rideshare passengers, Eli reluctantly alters their queer transmasculine identity to pass in a straight cisgender world for their physical and emotional safety.

Ace Fusion combines Bachata culture, Queer Culture and Afro Latin DJ. With Ace's favorite TV show growing up.-----Andrea Arenasvazquez (they/them/theirs) is a Non- Binary International Queer Entertainer also known as “Ace Fusion”. Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico &amp; raised in Brooklyn N.Y. Growing up Ace was always working on their passion for DJing and dance, along with serving in the Marine Corps. Ace now manages their own business : Ace Fusion Entertainment” and has built a Bachata company in NYC called “Amargue Flow”. The Amargue Flow Cultural Dance Academy aims to provide cultural and historical background &amp; movement in Bachata dance. Ace brings the roots, culture, and history of Bachata from its birthplace in the Dominican Republic. Ace teaches their classes with the biggest emphasis on mastering the basics and fundamentals, along with bringing cultural &amp; historical awareness of where Bachata comes from and how it is danced in the Dominican Republic. In addition to a strong emphasis on the basics, Ace’s classes also focus on building strong social dancing skills. Through learning Bachata fundamentals, a little knowledge of dancing the modern style while respecting the cultural dance and history of the Dominican Republic, beautiful social dancers are born. Ace is now traveling the world spreading awareness about LGBTQ culture and traditional social dances. Ace is also the founder of the Fusion Experience, a dance company/social that breaks gender norms within the Latin Dance community. Ace is also the founder of the “El Colmado Social” NYC’s first and only all traditional bachata social. Paying respects to the country and culture in which bachata comes from , the Dominican Republic. *The Love Mural by Lisa Marie

Fresh Ace of Bel Air

Ace Fusion combines Bachata culture, Queer Culture and Afro Latin DJ. With Ace's favorite TV show growing up.

A woman wakes up, noticing her facial skin is peeling off. In fear, she walks up to a mirror to look. Simultaneously, in a world on the other side of the mirror, a man covered in ice and snow, wakes up. “The ice man” represents a part of her identity she has neglected. He reaches out to her through the mirror to assist her transformation. As her old skin sheds, a new identity emerges. SKIN won the Student Academy Awards 2023, and was a contender for the 2023 Oscar shortlist for Best Live Action Short Film.<a href="www.leobehrens.art/skin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.leobehrens.art/skin</a>*Colorist: Walter Volpatto-----Leo Behrens is an award-winning Norwegian trans cinematographer &amp; director, based in Los Angeles. He began his career as a cinematographer and director, after graduating from Westerdals Film &amp; TV in 2010. In just a few years he was making notable contributions to a wide range of projects in Norway, spanning documentaries, music videos, short films, TV series, and reality TV shows. In 2023, Leo earned his cinematography degree from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Shortly after his graduation, he was selected for The ASC Vision Mentorship Program 23-24. Leo's short film "SKIN" won the Gold Medal in the alternative/experimental category at the 2023 Student Academy Awards, where he served as the writer, director, and cinematographer. He received a mentorship through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a Gold Alumni.Leo’s cinematography contributions to the documentary "Evan Ever After", about Florida’s first transgendered homecoming queen, earned it the Audience Award for "Best Florida Short" and the Jury Award for “Best Short Doc” at Out On Film Atalanta in 2023. It gained recognition at notable film festivals, including Outfest, HollyShorts InsideOut Film Festival Toronto, and NewFest New York. Leo received the 2024 Fresh Perspective in Cinematography grant for emerging cinematographers, sponsored by AbelCine, ARRI and The ASC, which he utilized on the feature film “Shadow Watchers” shot in 2024.

SKIN

SKIN is a poetic exploration of identity and self-discovery, using visual symbolism to depict a woman's transformation into a man.

"Claude" is a window into the life of Her, a trans woman struggling with connection. We meet Her as she prepares for a date, addressing an unseen figure in her room as she gets ready. When she leaves, it's revealed that she's been speaking to her stuffed rabbit Claude, the constant in her life and the one who sees her completely and in her most vulnerable moments. What ensues is a mix of the mundane and the turbulent, the pieces of her life that can only be seen by Claude in her bedroom. From emotional hangovers and crippling isolation to tender video calls with her mother who lives far away. Enter boyish Him, presumably a lover from Her past. As he slips back easily into Her life, watching their seemingly comfortable rapport, Claude witnesses his owner try to balance life, pleasure, and even violence. Never seeing anyone’s face besides Claude’s unanimated one, the audience is invited to really lean in and pay attention to a woman and a story that often goes untold.-----Finola Hughes graduated from the Arts Educational School in London in 1979. From the age of 11 she had already been performing in both Television and on stage. After being part of the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats and Song &amp; Dance she moved to the US to co-star in Sylvestor Stallone’s Stayin’ Alive with John Travolta. She joined the soap General Hospital in 1985, earning an Emmy in 1991, and has garnered many nominations. She has returned to the soap over the years, and worked in numerous TV shows and movies. Her work in TV includes: Charmed, Pacific Palisades, Blossom. Her movies include Like Crazy which won Sundance 2011. In 2013 she directed her first full length film The Bet. The low budget film was successfully entered in festivals around the country, including FLIFF and Dances with Films, and won LAFEMME film festival for best feature. It received distribution. She has since directed a couple of shorts and an episode of Good Trouble for FreeForm in 2019. She is an adjunct professor at USC School of Dramatic Art.

Claude

Her childhood stuffed bunny, Claude, watches his owner navigate her turbulent love life as an adult trans-woman.

Rowyn Judd's journey of self-discovery and transformation unfolds through dance and music. Before and after top surgery, Rowyn's movement expresses the complex emotions of gender affirmation and the joy of reclaiming his body. Walking Progress is a moving testament to the power of trans resilience. Through intimate choreography and an original song, Rowyn's journey unfolds, capturing the vulnerability and ultimate triumph of living authentically.

Walking Progress

Walking Progress is a powerful celebration of trans joy and the transformative power of top surgery.

Frankie wants to pay their rent, go to work, and be a good roommate but is hijacked by their love for weed.-----John e. (they/them) has always been inspired by people and how they express themselves through their gender. Dominican Jewish descent, they identify as Non-Binary, a supported filmmaker through The Future of Film is Female, and graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD.) They began in documentary segments and independently produced and directed narrative shorts shown at Inside Out, NewFest, Outfest, Oak Cliff Film Festival, Bentonville, and Maryland Film Festival. Johne has been written up in Deadline, San Francisco Chronicle, and screened at MoMA through FOFIF (“Pierce Me.”) and on PBS (“Vestirse”), which was called “...an elegant amalgam of music, movement, and costume…” by film journalist Rachel Garbus.-----*Title Artist: Stacy Oviedo

Monster Cookie

An anxious new comedy short by John e. Kilberg

United States of America

Program 6: Shorts Grab Bag

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