Abstract

Abstract This chapter explores the energetic and innovative trans cinema movement that emerged in the 1990s by looking at case studies of the first transgender film festivals—Counting Past 2 in Toronto, the International Transgender Film and Video Festival in London, and Tranny Fest in San Francisco. Each festival took a different approach to trans film programming, community building, and arts funding. Together, the three festivals helped define a specifically transgender identity and community that overlapped with but were not the same as “queer.” They also influenced the programming of lesbian and gay festivals, carving out more room for trans-made work. These case studies demonstrate how film festivals can contribute to social and aesthetic movements, how festival organizers have overcome and become mired in the challenges they face, and the many ways in which trans has long put pressure on “lesbian and gay” and “queer” in the face of its erasure.

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