All films in this program are closed-captioned.

In a dystopian present, exiled Kung Fu master Big Sister 13 leads a crew of Trans and Queer fighters who reclaim a forgotten zone and transform it into the Martial Forest—a secret training ground where care is as powerful as combat. Together, they fight to survive rising violence and build a future rooted in chosen family and trans resistance.<a href="https://www.thefirstkissofthenight.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.thefirstkissofthenight.com</a> Art Director : AN AN Chen, Laser Artist | Chan Chi-yin, Kung Fu Instructor | Ma Pei-chun-----J Triangular (He/Him/They/Them) is a trans masculine non-binary experimental filmmaker, multimedia poet, curator, and spiritual artivist. Born in Colombia and based in Taiwan, their work explores the creation of avant-garde queer collectives, mental health, and the fight against HIV stigma—rooted in projects across Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Colombia, and South Africa. They conceive cinema as a sacred space for freedom, social practice, and trans resistance. Their work has been shown in places like the New Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Whitney Museum, Asian Art Museum, Cinemateca de Bogotá, State of Concept (Athens), and Documenta 15. J is currently developing their trans punk feature film The First Kiss of the Night, and their feature musical documentary TRANSMIGRANTS was recently selected for the UnionDocs Summer Lab. They are one of the screening coordinators for the DWA program of Visual AIDS in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and one of the film programmers for the legendary MIX NYC.

English

THE MARTIAL FOREST

Performing to a Sesame Street song from my childhood, I am reimagining what a "Monster in the Mirror" could mean for me in this moment. Part emboldening of a theatrical younger self and part joyful resistance, this performance art piece celebrates the existence of trans and nonbinary people through recruiting my fellow monsters.--Al Ellison is a trans-nonbinary, mixed race, queer performance artist. They uplift movement as a way to work nonlinearly through collaborating with the body as an archiving entity. Al equips tools such as memory, improvisation, gestures, childhood, and the everyday with aims of healing, release, pleasure, and play. Al received their M.F.A in Experimental Choreography from the University of California, Riverside (2023) and is currently completing their Masters of Social Work from Cal State East Bay.

Monster in the Mirror (in the time of Executive Orders)

Using the wisdom from a 90's Sesame Street song, this playful performance art piece celebrates the existence of trans and nonbinary people.

Directed by queer singer-songwriter Tom Goss, "I Feel Like Throwing Up" by Ryan Cassata is a visceral, defiant, and ultimately hopeful visual journey through illness, identity, and empowerment. Written during Cassata’s ongoing battle with Lyme disease and co-infections, the song and video channel the raw intensity of that experience into something transformative — linking personal pain with the broader struggle of trans resilience in today’s hostile political climate. Starring the legendary Shea Diamond as a radiant, take-no-prisoners superhero, the video features a cast of BIPOC youth actors and unapologetically centers trans joy, resistance, and chosen family. In a striking showdown, our hero faces off against a MAGA mob, radiating power, pride, and the kind of love that builds unshakable community. At a time when young trans people across the country are being targeted and made to feel isolated, "I Feel Like Throwing Up" stands as a beacon — a reminder that they’re not alone, and that fierce, vibrant community is not just a dream, but a reality we’re building together.-Additional credits:Makeup: Angel Baddie&nbsp;Haircut: Charli Boell-Tom Goss is an LA-based singer-songwriter known for his expertly crafted songs about the joys and struggles of modern love. A prolific writer and performer, Tom has released seven albums, made dozens of music videos, and played thousands of shows across the US, Canada, and Europe to a growing group of dedicated fans. He has been compared to Ed Sheeran, Mat Kearney, David Gray, and Wye Oak -- but with a distinct perspective shaped by his unusual history as a college wrestler turned Catholic seminarian turned gay musician. Tom's songs have been heard on ABC, HBO, Disney+, Here TV, and Univision, and his inventive music videos have been viewed more than 20 million times. He enjoys a particularly strong following in the LGBT community -- singing about disillusionment, desire, and hope in an intimate yet relatable way — and has shared a stage with performers as diverse as Andy Grammer, Martha Wash, Taylor Dayne, Adrianne Gonzalez, Matt Alber, and Catie Curtis. Tom was raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and went to college in Missouri on a wrestling scholarship with plans to become a schoolteacher. A year of student teaching changed his mind, but he still wanted to make a difference in the world -- so he decided, to the surprise of family and friends, to become a Catholic priest, moving to Washington DC to enter seminary. Frustrated by a series of #metoo experiences, Tom found his voice in songwriting and performing. After a decade in DC, he moved to Los Angeles in 2015. In his debut LP with Kill Rock Stars, Greetings from Echo Park, Ryan Cassata (he/him), a genre-defying powerhouse musician and activist, constructs a raw collection of folk punk, blues, and pop punk songs that soundtrack stories of anxiety, escapism, illness, and transphobia. The album is due out June 6th, 2025. In Greetings from Echo Park, Cassata has seemingly spent the past few years swallowing down all the feelings of isolation and anxiety he could hold. Now he’s spitting it back up like bile. The result is a rich mosaic of influences and voices, bringing in collaborators such as Jason Hiller, David Scott Stone (Melvins, LCD Soundsystem), Mark Pelli (MAGIC!), and utilizing styles from emo pop-punk to Springsteen-style guitar. The album art even plays homage to Bruce Springsteen's iconic Greetings from Asbury Park. Partially written and recorded while battling an autoimmune illness and Lyme Disease coinfections, the album serves as both a cathartic release and a deeply personal chronicle of survival. Ryan Cassata’s music has long been intertwined with activism; he is an award-winning singer-songwriter, actor, performer, published writer, LGBTQ+ activist, and transgender motivational speaker. With over 650 performances nationwide and internationally and seven original and critically-acclaimed musical albums, Cassata is proud to be recognized as the first openly-trans performer at the Vans Warped Tour, in addition to featured performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Green Show, Global Pride, and SXSW. He has been praised by The Advocate Magazine as a “Transgender singing sensation.” Paper Magazine included Cassata on their "50 LGBTQ Musicians You Should Prioritize" list, and LOGO’s New Now Next included him on the “9 Trans Musicians You Need To Get Into” list. Billboard Magazine has referred to him as a “true force in the industry,” honoring him as one of the esteemed "11 Transgender &amp; Non-Binary Musicians You Need to Know".

i feel like throwing up

"i feel like throwing up," directed by queer artist Tom Goss and starring Shea Diamond, is Ryan Cassata’s fierce and unflinching music video that transforms illness and oppression into a radiant celebration of trans resilience, joy, and chosen family.

Sam's search for identity gets interrupted by a mysterious neighbourhood fox. Together they embark on a magical journey to the attic to discover the surprising things they might have in common, and how to celebrate the ways in which they differ.-----Lisa Ott is a Swiss animation director based in London. They moved to the UK nine years ago to pursue a career in film and fell in love with stop-motion in the process. Lisa studied Model Making before joining the puppet team at Mackinnon &amp; Saunders, helping to create puppets to bring other people’s stories to life. Most recently they worked on projects like Oscar and Bafta-winning Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Netflix’s The House. Due to their wish to see more LGBTQIA+ stories being told in animation, they decided to take the leap into directing by attending the Directing Animation course at the National Film and Television School. There, Lisa was able to find like-minded creatives and directed their debut stop-motion short, Dragfox. Lisa’s work consistently deals with themes of belonging and their experience of growing up queer in a rural farming village, as well as a celebration of the differences within the LGBTQ+ community.

Dragfox

Sam's search for identity gets interrupted by a mysterious neighbourhood fox.

Since the ancient world, Creation Stories have been told to help us not simply imagine the way the world was formed, but our divine place within it. Blending animation, poetry, music, stories rooted in various cultures and live elements, A New Creation Story celebrates Black Trans community and retells the making of the Universe — taking us on a journey from before the first molecule was crafted until the precise moment where everything has truly come to be. Based on “A Temple Hymn to the Creation of the Universe”Written by Dane Figueroa EdidiFrom The Black Trans Prayer Book--Dane Figueroa Edidi (Co-Director/Producer) - Dubbed the Ancient Jazz Priestess of Mother Africa, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi is a Nigerian, Cuban, Indigenous, American Performance Artist, A Helen Hayes nominated actress, Author (Yemaya’s Daughters, Brew, Keeper, Incarnate, Wither, Bone, Solace, Hierodule, Baltimore: A Love Letter, Remains: A Gathering of Bones, The Blood of A Thousand Roots, For Black Trans Girls…,The Politics of Tears, and Infrastructure Of A Nation) Educator, A Helen Hayes Award Winning Playwright (Klytmnestra: An Epic Slam Poem (2020), For Black Trans Girls…, Ghost/Writer), Advocate,a 3x Helen Hayes Award Nominated choreographer and co-editor of the Black Trans Prayer Book. She wrote episode 9 (Refuge) of Roundhouse Theatre’s Webseries Homebound, narrated the Netflix Documentary The Visions of Us, and played Patra in King Esther, and Dr. Grace Grace in I Need Space. J Mase III (Co-Director/Producer) is a Black/Trans/queer poet, educator and filmmaker based outside of LA. As an educator, Mase has worked with community members on Trans liberation, racial justice and moving towards reparations in spaces such as K-12 schools, universities, faith communities and restricted care facilities. He wrote and performed in the short film Bad Theology which premiered at the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival. Winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Non-Fiction and a Creative Capital Award, he is co-director of the forthcoming documentary, the Black Trans Prayer Book and is finishing his latest solo work, Is Your God a Violent God? Finding a Theology for Survivors. Find him on Instagram &amp; TikTok (@jmaseiii) and www.jmaseiii.com! Audria LB (Co-Director/Cinematographer) (she/her/hers) is a Black transfeminine filmmaker, poet, and interdisciplinary artist, based in Durham, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2017 with B.A’.s in Media Arts and African American Studies. Audria LB seeks to fill the world with dope Black queer and trans art, shifting culture for left and progressive causes. Audria was an Emerging Documentary Artist at Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies 2019-2020. Some of Audria’s work includes: Bridging Binaries, “O Body,” “Trans People Are TIRED…,” and “Skin in the Game.” Having published work in Lambda Literary Award-winning The Black Trans Prayer Book, she is currently a co-director on the upcoming Black Trans Prayer Book Documentary.

A New Creation Story

Blending animation, poetry, music, stories rooted in various cultures and live elements, A New Creation Story celebrates Black Trans community and retells the making of the Universe — taking us on a journey from before the first molecule was crafted until the precise moment where everything has truly come to be.

An alien student enrolled in an exchange program comes to Earth to experience a real life human school. However, upon arrival they are quick to be othered by the terrible, horrifying beasts known as middle schoolers. An unsuccessful attempt at fitting in later, they are approached by a lone boy that knows exactly how it feels to fall outside of the norm.-----Ash Bieber is a queer digital artist born and raised in the Lafayette, Louisiana area. From a young age, he’s always been fascinated with the art of animation and stories told using the medium. During his time at UL, Ash came to realize his love for storyboarding, and plans to pursue a path as a story artist for animation. His work often portrays a silly, lighthearted type of humor, as he is always looking for laughter in his everyday life. Even so, Ash is typically drawn to emotional stories of internal conflict. As a transgender man, he finds much of his inspiration in topics of identity, personal connection, and social norms.

An Extraterrestrial Exchange

A student from out of this world tries to fit in with human middle schoolers.

MAXA, The Maddest Woman in the World' is an epic rock horror musical capturing the life story of Paula Maxa, the famed French tragedienne who died thousands of deaths for the patrons who haunted the infamously bloody theater known as the Grand Guignol. In 1940's France, it becomes Paula’s strange destiny to carry the very same horrors of the Grand Guignol into her private life. Only then does she confront the very night that changed her existence forever. The story is a heartfelt, shrewd examination of the timeless struggle between trauma and healing, exemplified by bookwriter and lyricist Mika Kauffman’s wordplay of levity and macabre, as well as composer Thomas Jacobsen’s complex, sweeping orchestrations with a contemporary electronic score. "Strange Power" features Paula Maxa as she romanticizes and reflects on her morbid curiosities born from traumatic events that escalated her rise to fame, paying homage to the "poor witches of the middle ages" who burned at the stake before her. "This song is about taking the things that have brought you down and dancing on their graves.” - Daniella Caggiano<a href="http://www.maxamusical.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.maxamusical.com</a> Music Director And Audio Engineer: Andrew BlackCenter at West Park residency location--

"Strange Power" Music Video

"Strange Power" from MAXA musical features Paula Maxa as she romanticizes and reflects on her morbid curiosities born from traumatic events that escalated her rise to fame, paying homage to the "poor witches of the middle ages" who burned at the stake before her.

Sher is a transgender superheroine, guardian of the trans* and queer community. Not all of Sher's missions consist in defeating supervillains; some are more mundane, at times ridiculous, but still with the support and help of her sisters in the times of need in mind.--Paolo Accogli was born and grew up in the milanese countryside, in a roadman's house next to a railway, cradled by the passage of trains. In high school they train as an illustrator and graphic designer. At 19 they produce their first animated short, an awareness campaign about HIV, which wins two rewards and with which they start to get passionate about animation as a medium. At 20 they begin their studies at Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti, in which they attend the animation course, graduating with the production of the short Shemergency. In the future they see themselves working in the animation industry, trying to keep the focus on queer and trans* topics through personal work.

SHEMERGENCY

We witness an unlikely encounter between a sledgehammer-wielding queer dancer and two tea-drinking elderly guests at a kitsch resort. The guests feel moved to participate in the dancer's porcelain and norm-shattering performance. The music video encourages us all to join in. Dance: Brødskive (Jens Martin Hartvedt Arvesen)-----Elle Whitney is an American filmmaker based in Norway. She has a special interest in telling queer stories across genres.

Are you scared yet?

Are you scared yet? by Cvntess is a response to anti-trans disinformation campaigns, which continue to harass, attack and erase trans lives.

Program 2: Music/Animation

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