San Francisco Transgender Film Festival Opens: ‘A Loving Act of Resistance’
The San Francisco Transgender Film Festival is defiant. A celebratory space, to take a breath and “bask in our cinema,” according to Shawna Virago, the event’s artistic director.
Starting Thursday night, North America’s longest-running transgender film festival will celebrate its 29th run at the Roxie Theater.
Launched in 1997 by friends Christopher Lee and Alex Austin on a biennial basis, the festival officially became an annual event in 2005. Virago said it has screened 800 films, focusing on transgender issues, transgender lives, films by transgender people and films starring transgender people.
“My message is to say yes to the community members coming to the film festival as an act of solidarity,” Virago said. “And also saying, no, we don’t need to focus on [the] hate.”
“We get to focus on our films and our art and our community,” Virago said.
The festival will run in-person until Nov. 14, kicking off at 7 p.m. on Thursday night. After two screenings each evening, the programs will be available for free online from Nov. 16 to Nov. 22, Virago said.
“The films all stand up for freedom of expression, for beauty, for community and a future not driven by corporate AI,” Virago said.
One of the films, written and directed by Gabe Gabriel and Loren Loubser of South Africa, is Dread. In a 10-minute horror short, a transmasculine driver encounters a “digital nomad with blonde dreadlocks” and “something unseen takes root” in the car.
“It’s a film exploring karmic justice and leftover things of apartheid,” Virago said. “It might seem strange, but trans people are very resilient. We will outlast the haters.”
The festival also includes the true story of a Japanese American single mother, whose allyship in the form of gender-affirming care is highlighted in One Of The Girls, and a “gay anthem” in the style of a music video named Swoletarian.
Contributing artists hail from across the world — the United States, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and more.
“By coming here today, you are making a statement, an affirmation, and a loving act of resistance to the anti-trans forces arrayed against us across this country,” Virago said in a statement ahead of opening night.
Although the Trump administration has sought to roll back protections for the transgender community, Virago said, it’s nothing new.
“Trans people have always been part of the human experience,” Virago told KQED. “We will always be part of the human experience.”