(Nicola Mai, United Kingdom, 60 min, in English)

Rosa and Paloma fight transphobic violence and persecution from the police while defending their prostitution charges in court in an increasingly anti-migration political environment in the US. Together with their friends and colleagues, they assert their identities creatively at a drag show that allows them to exist counter to their marginalization. Although Paloma and Rosa’s story is fictional, it captures the first hand experience of those involved in violence, trafficking, and sex work. This experimental documentary combines ethnofiction and observational nonfiction as a collaboration between Nicola Mai and the TRANSgrediendo Intercultural Collective, a grassroots nonprofit organization defending the rights of transgender Latina migrant women in Queens, New York City. CAER is a tribute to the work and legacy of Lorena Borjas, the mother of these Latina transgender women in Queens, who was one of the first victims of COVID-19 in New York City in March 2020. Sponsored by Edge Media Network

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS: Non-explicit sexual situations, discussion of sexual violence, depiction of domineering treatment from a male partner, police, depiction of the arrest of trans women, depiction of an animal left without care, mention of childhood sexual abuse, mention of detainment, mention of being pursued by immigration, mention of the murder of trans women.

BALLAD OF YUKA
(GJ Pelczar, US, 2021, 4 min)
In this surrealist, stop motion, acid western, a vigilante cowgirl comes to town with one goal: taking down a mysterious outlaw.

HOW NOT TO DATE WHILE TRANS
(Nyala Moon, US, 2021, 12 min)
A young, Black, trans woman breaks it all down in this grim comedy: dating, romance, and the fourth wall.

WECKUWAPASIHTIT (THOSE YET TO COME)
(Geo Neptune & Brianna Smith, US, 2022, 12 min, in English & Passamaquoddy with English subtitles)
This documentary follows young Peskotomuhkati people as they reclaim the practice of athasikuwi-pisun or “tattoo-medicine,” illuminating ancestral memory and native identity.

MOTHER OF PEARL
(Moonyeka, US, 2022, 7 min)
Moonyeka’s self-proclaimed visual and embodied labyrinth is a picturesque short film that elucidates the sacramental process experienced by shelled creatures, particularly mollusks, oysters, and abalones, as parasitic energies encroach upon their environment.

THE CONCISION OF A SIX FOOT FIVE INCH TRANSGENDER WOMAN SHAVING HER BODY
(Audrey Kiehn, US, 2022, 5 min)
An intimate and meditative scene of a trans woman shaving her body.

TO THE FUTURE WITH LOVE
(Shaleece Haas (she/her), US, 6 min)
Hunter “Pixel” Jimenez, a 19 year old, nonbinary, Guatamalan just wants to live happily ever after with his long-distance boyfriend in this endearing animated self-portrait.

T4T
(Emma Frankland & Rosie Powell, United Kingdom, 2021, 3 min)
Two trans people celebrate their love in this playful, sexy, and romantic musical short, set to “Get Cute” by Screaming Toenail.

ONE LIFT AT A TIME
(Flo Singer & Ben Dame, US, 2022, 9 min)
A self-coached, nonbinary weightlifter navigates the very binary world of professional weightlifting.

17 MINUTES WITH NORA
(Imanol Ruiz de Lara, Spain, 2021, 19 min, in Spanish with English subtitles)
Nora is nervous about performing in a play at school, but being bullied by her classmates makes her face something much more important: being accepted by her dad. The following 17 minutes will change their relationship forever.

PRAYERS FOR SWEET WATERS
(Elijah Ndoumbe, South Africa, 2021, 16 min, in English, Kirundi & French with English subtitles)
Miraculous and tender, this short shines a light on the lives of trans sex workers in South Africa, presenting the power and possibility of world-building within the margins.

Total running time: 93 min. Films are in English, without captions, unless otherwise specified.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS: Nudity, graphic violence, non-explicit sexual situations, explicit sexual situations, depiction of murdered trans women, discussion of physical violence against sex workers, mild vulgar language.