Cinematic trans representation is something that's been limited mainly to narrative fiction and documentary. What's been lacking is a push to explore how cinema as a tool can be used to depict and examine trans identities. 

is a non-narrative essay film built from super 8 footage, collaboratively created by interviewing trans women about how they would like to be represented non-narratively on film.

A Trans with a Movie Camera

Transgender teen, Jazz Jennings, narrates this documentary where young people interview a host of LGBTQ elders who came out in different historical eras from the 1950s through today.

Coming Out: A 50 Year History

 is a documentary short film showcasing the diverse ways trans people relate to, connect to and try to reshape and mold their own bodies. Five trans and non-binary people talk about their unique relationship to their bodies in the context of mental health, autonomy and medical transition. The film shows slow intimate footage of body-shaping activities. Fluid Forms is a work advocating for bodily autonomy. There are many different ways trans and nonbinary people may or may not want to medically transition. The film shows an array of different role models for what one's body journey might look like.

The short features nudity.

Fluid Forms

Girlz to Men is a documentary about three transgender men who share their dynamic experiences via interviews.

Girlz to Men: A Documentary About Trans-Men

Heteropils ("hetero-castle" or "hetero-town" translated from Latvian) is a documentary looking at LGBT+ experiences in Latvia outside its capital city Riga. Most of film is set in Daugavpils. However, it also shows LGBT+ people going to pride parade in Riga. Majority of the film consists of interviews of LGBT+ people from Daugavpils and areas nearby, Daugavpils citizens and a politican from Daugavpils talking about their views on LGBT+ related topics.

The film switches between Latvian and Russian providing subtitles in the other langauge.

Heteropils

Non-binary, trans and genderqueer audience members discuss coded and direct non-binary, trans and queer representations in film, spanning from the earliest films to the most recent.

In Their View

Meet Montreal's Mambo Drag Kings, a dapper group of lip syncing lesbians who entertain in style. In this part documentary, part performance tape, Ayoup apes family value sitcoms by inserting black and white parodies of television shows starring the 

Kings

Through interviews with three trans individuals, 

 examines how masculinity has the capacity to bring both utter joy and harsh double standards to those who are living their truths. 

This documentary complicates the common narratives of transgender lives by incorporating discussions of societal expectations and non-binary identity into the conversation.

MASC

Five years after the making of the video portrait Boys in the Backyard, the film maker returns to San Francisco to see what has become of Matt. Articulate and charming, Matt recounts some of his experiences as a transgendered FTM and changes in his life during the last five years..

Matt

When Lucas was seen as a girl named Laura, he always wanted to be a boy. Now he is one. This candid documentary follows Lucas Waldron, a 21 year-old man transitioning from female to male, as he negotiates what it means to be transgender after years of struggling to identify himself. 

Told through personal interviews, old photos, and footage, 

 seeks to explain what the T in LGBT really means.

Sex: M

Buck Angel, master of redefining gender brings you never revealed secrets of trans men sexuality. This groundbreaking educational adult film consists of interviews and jack-off scenes with four different trans men (aged 20-35).
Each scene starts with an interview in which the performers share intimate details about who they are and why they transitioned from female to male.
Removing their clothes, they take you on a thrilling journey as they show you how their sexuality has been supercharged by testosterone.

(Note from Otherness Archive: We recognise and do not endorse Angel as a artist to elevate. 'Sexing the Transman' exists within this archive for documental purposes.)

The transguys reveal what turns them on as they stroke their enlarged clits and use their favorite sex toys in all their holes. Each riveting scene ends with an explosive orgasm. As an added a bonus, there is a super hardcore sex scene of Buck Angel with another hot FTM, Fallen.


The all-original music features amazing opera arias by Hilary Whitmore and great rock and roll music produced by Ponyboy. Buck Angel’s new film, 

, has been chosen to screen alongside the best contemporary gay, lesbian, transgender and/or bisexual films from all over the world.

Sexing the Transman

In the past decade, independent cinema has seen an explosion of films that explore transgender issues. Many of those films, however, have elided issues of race in regard to trans communities of color. In light of this, 

STILL BLACK: A PORTRAIT OF BLACK TRANSMEN

 is a feature-length experimental documentary that explores the lives of six black transgender men living in the United States. 

Through the intimate discussions of their lives as artists, students, husbands, fathers, lawyers, and teachers, the film challenges traditional notions of Black masculinity, sexuality, and identity.


Presented as a collection of six short black-and-white films, each "mini-film" gives the impression of a one-on-one conversation with the character. The aesthetically provocative sections tell the personal stories of the men through multiple camera angles, experimental graphics, and an original trip-hop
score--each designed to supplement their individuality and personality.


This film does not claim to embody what it means to be Black, or transgender, or male. But what it does do is offer just a small piece of the larger experience of being a Black trans man. Most importantly, we hope that the stories in the film will inspire audience members to look beyond the negative portrayals and stereotypes of Black men that we are all bombarded with on a daily basis.

University of California TV interview with director

Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen

"The Lesbian is a performance based on a three-and-a-half month research project in which I drove across the United States interviewing lesbians, documenting evidence of lesbian communities/populations and performing in lesbian living rooms. In the performance, I assume the roles of The Researcher, The Interviewer, The Choreographer, The Girlfriend and The Audience–all of whom are constructed to explain The Lesbian."

The Lesbian

An interview with Leon Bonnici, a 26-year-old Maltese trans man. He talks about his trans journey, family, his t4t relationship, medical transitioning, work and his love for the sea.

To Be a Man

Henry, a trans man, muses about the narrow deﬁnitions of gender, femininity, sexual politics and the joy of wearing a suit.

Trans

, the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred — this appears as an interview conducted by the director between two trans men. The video, a trans man’s fantasy, opens with frank discussions, such as testosterone injection sites marked by tattoos, then leads to sex.

Content note: Rapid flashing lights occur in the film at minute 34:30 – end.

Transmasculine Hole of the Universe

The documentary cover an overview of historical and contemporary Native American concepts of gender, sexuality and sexual orientation. This documentary explores the berdache tradition in Native American culture, in which individuals who embody feminine and masculine qualities act as a conduit between the physical and spiritual world, and because of this are placed in positions of power within the community.

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Interview