Shorts: Transitions of Life (May 22) – TranScreen Amsterdam Transgender Filmfestival

One day available. You can only watch this block on May 22.

Tickets: €4,99 – On Demand – Available on May 22 at cultuurticket.nl/transcreen

In this collection of short films, we meet five different transgender persons, all of them in a different stage of life. From child to adult, every transition brings new challenges and opportunities.

“Handsome & Majestic” follows the story of Milan Halikowski, a teenager from the rural city of Prince George, BC. As a recently transitioned transgender boy, Milan deals with discrimination and abuse from his peers and teachers at school, as he seeks to find other kids like himself. Throughout these hardships, he becomes a role model and an advocate for trans people in his small community and beyond.

Heart Whispers
Ash Verwiel | USA | 2020 | 8 min | English spoken | No subtitles | Documentary

“Heart whispers” is a reflective abstract short exploring the filmmaker’s journey through adolescence, developing their own voice and struggling to find a sense of belonging as a trans man. It is a story about rebirth and alignment with self. The film explores a journey of growing into a body to call home. This film is an explicitly non-medicalized trans story, straying away from how mainstream media represent trans people, obsessing over the body and it’s medical changes. Instead, this film expresses the inner transformation of a trans person and shows a stark shift in outlook on their life.

A positive portrait of a transgender teen in a small mountain town in British Columbia who prepares to make his acting debut playing a male leading character in a youth play. While rehearsals are in progress, his friends and chosen family band together to help remove him from a difficult living situation.

Short documentary about Anne Chris, who does not feel comfortable in the body in which he was born. At night he is grinding: is a transition the right solution? If your body doesn’t feel like home, where should you go? Anne Chris lies awake at night full of doubts; he does not feel comfortable in the body in which he was born and does not know whether or not transitioning is the right step. He is concerned that he will still not feel well after the procedure. In this intimate documentary, Anne Chris talks about the whirlwind of thoughts and considerations and all the fierce emotions that arise.

This short documentary explores a week in the life of Angela—a roller derby athlete and transgender rights activist in Alberta, Canada. As a jammer for the Calgary All-Stars team, she skates under the name Easy Break Oven and is a role model in the local derby community. She also coaches kids from the small-towns surrounding the city, which is one of the most conservative and religious parts of the country. While preparing for her first derby match of the season, she begins to see her teammates and her life in a new light.