She's been with the ancestors for the last seven months and her 44 year life was way too short for all of us who loved her, but Nikki Araguz Loyd will never be forgotten by me or anyone in our community.
She will also not be forgotten for her ginormous contribution to trans rights for us trans Texans. It was her tenacious and ultimately successful six year legal fight in the Delgado v Araguz case that secured marriage rights for us here in the Lone Star State.
Courting Nikki is a short documentary by Cressandra Thibodeaux that follows Nikki through this case. It also brought back some memories for me of that time and the amazing complex woman I was blessed to call my friend.
This documentary video was shown at Nikki's memorial service
The Danish Girl movie about pioneering trans woman Lili Elbe is being released this Friday, and it is already getting some Oscar buzz for its star Eddie Redmayne.
There has been a lot of commentary in Trans World about our irritation over Hollywood once again using a male actor to play a trans woman, and I share that irritation. I would like to see more trans actors getting roles, especially when it comes to a trans woman playing a trans role on the silver screen or the small screen.
I'd also like to see reciprocity in trans actors getting to play cis roles since the excuse justifying this that comes out of cis people's mouths is 'the best actor should get the role'. Okay, if that is the case, when will we see more trans persons, when they are best person for the role, playing cis people?
I do have to admit I'm also somewhat conflicted about The Danish Girl as the opening date for the movie is fast approaching. I'm curious about how this movie about one of our historical figures will be received. .
Based on the increasing Oscar chatter and it getting moved up from a January 1, 2016 release date to one on Thanksgiving weekend, it may potentially be a lucrative reception.
As y'all know, I'm always on the lookout for trans themed movies that feature trans folks playing trans characters, and here's another one that should be on your radar starring Laverne Cox,
It's entitled Carl(a) and has two trans actors in it. Joslyn DeFreece in the title role as a trans woman facing opposition from her family as she is completing her physical transition and Laverne before she blew up. The 2011 movie also stars Greg Bello and Mark Margolis and is directed by Eli Hershko.
Carla falls in love with a man named Sam who seems to love her for who she is, but he questions their relationship when Carla finally get the means to finish it. She is faced with the choice of being herself or being with the man she loves.
Carl(a) will be distributed in limited release by Ariztical Entertainment in select theaters across the country on December 10, and hope we in Houston get to see it.
You helped it reach its $25,000 fundraising goal and exceed it. You helped it win IndieWire's Project of the Week to put it in the running for October Project of the Month.
And now, thanks to your help MAJOR!, by a 574-529 margin has won the poll that makes it the IndieWire October Project of the Month!
Annalise and StormMiguel thank you for all your help in achieving this success for the MAJOR! documentary. In addition to taking another step towards making this documentary film a reality, thy will now receive as a result of the polling victory a creative consultation with the Tribeca Film Institute
And it proves once again the power of collective action when we trans folks pull together to make something positive happen that benefits our community.
MAJOR! was up for IndieWire's Project Of The Week which was being voted on until the poll closed at 11 AM EDT yesterday.
I wrote a post asking you loyal TransGriot readers to support it and help Annalise and StormMiguel win this IndieWire vote for Team Trans, and in case you were wondering what the results were for this vote, I'm about to tell you.
Out of the 608 votes cast in the poll, MAJOR! won the Project of the Week with 294 votes or 48.36% of the total! Next closest project came in with 175 votes (29% of the total)
So with this latest win Annalise and StormMiguel are not only in the running for IndieWire's Project of the Month, they will receive a digital distribution consultation from
SnagFilms.
Annalise and StormMiguel asked me to thank you peeps who voted for MAJOR! on their behalf. They will let me know what happens and how the Project of the Month winner will be determined. If they win Project of the Month, they will be awarded with a creative consultation from the peeps at the Tribeca Film Institute!
Congrats again for another win Annalise and StormMiguel!
Thanks to those of you who helped MAJOR! in its Kickstarter campaign raise over $27,000 to get the movie funded. Now Annalise and StormMiguel are asking for your help once again, and this time it won't require any cash to do so.
MAJOR! is in the running on Indiewire for the Project Of the Week which is determined by votes. The winning
filmmaker when the voting concludes at 11 AM EDT on October 21 will receive a digital distribution consultation from
SnagFilms and will become a candidate for Project of the Month.
If MAJOR! becomes the candidate for Proect of the Month and is the winner, Annalise and StormMiguel will be awarded with a creative consultation from the peeps at the Tribeca Film Institute!
As of this writing MAJOR! has 140 votes and is in the lead, but could use some help to get it over the finish line because the next closest film project has 77 votes.
So people, let's handle our business. Please take a moment to vote for it, pass on and share the link to the contest in you social media circles and help get Miss Major's story on the silver screen so it gets the attention it deserves.
Congratulations go out to Annalise and StormMiguel who not only hit but exceeded their fundraising goal for getting the MAJOR! documentary completed and at a theater near you.
They have at this writing 541 backers who have contributed $26,122 toward getting this project done.
See trans community and allies, we may not have a whole lot of money in the community, but when we come together and pool it, we can make some amazing things happen like getting a POTUS elected and reelected, a trans hackathon funded, and now a documentary movie funded.
They still have in this Kickstarter campaign until 6:00 PM PT-9:00 PM ET Tuesday night to raise those much needed production funds. Since they cleared their
goal, they'll get everything they raised, now let's help them
keep going and see if we can get them to $30,000!
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy's story is too important, NEEDS to be told, and needs to be preserved for history's sake and for future generations of trans people. Every dollar still matters.
Please continue to support them with $1, $5, $10, $20 or whatever you wish to contribute until the clock runs out to get this much needed movie made!
If you're looking for something to do in the San Francisco Bay Area today, historians Jenni Olson and Susan Stryker will be presenting on a subject that is near and dear to my heart, the images of transpeople in film.
The location is the stately Victoria Theatre in San Francisco CA and you can join Jenni and Susan starting at 2 PM PDT for an interesting take on the history of transgender images in film.
It will be a program that combines on stage conversation with film clips showcasing an array of rarely seen tidbits ranging from the bad old stereotypical days of guys in dresses and pathological transsexuals all the way up to the empowered self-representations of the early 90's and the hot transgender best of the early 21st century.
And you get two people who I respect and admire in this community breaking it down for you as well.
You still have two hours to get there, grab some tickets for it and get your learn on..
Here's the trailer for the James Racin documentary film Beautiful Darling. It's about the short and tragic life of trans actress Candy Darling. She went from growing up in the Long Island suburbs dreaming of becoming a star to becoming a beautiful blonde independent film actress and the muse of Andy Warhol on the verge of making that dream happen.
She tragically died of lymphoma in 1974 at the age of 29. The documentary uses a mix of current and past interviews, excerpts from Candy's diaries and letters and vintage videos
I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for it at my nearest multiplex that plays indie films.
