Thick Relations

Past and present collide when an Iranian American trans man time-travels through an LGBTQ+ archive on a dizzying and erotic quest to unravel his own sexual desires.

A documentary about 19 trans men from 14 different states who have given birth and, in most instances, gone on to raise their biological children.

F. Scott Fitzgerald Slept Here explores the intimacy between men and the dynamics of unlikely matchups. Paul is a scruffy, white girl-hungry FTM poet. Gordon, on the other hand, is an overachieving black student who is balancing his identity as a gay man with his conservative professional aspirations. While it seems like they couldn't be less alike, the more we learn about Paul and Gordon, the more we find out that they both are struggling with the same question: How do I fit in? F. Scott Fitzgerald Slept Here is about the decisions that friends make for each other and for themselves, and what happens when they can't be synchronized. Paul and Gordon are unbeatable together, or at least that's what they thought. They can take on the world but can they survive each other?

The question of how to approach an abusive past is tackled head-on in this contemplative mix of home movies, collage and interviews. After years of attempting to heal from the actions of an abusive grandfather, Rosskam presents a series of interviews and conversations, including with his own parents, that examine the ways in which trauma encrypts in uncanny ways; the function of speech and narrative in the process of decryption; and the role of film and filmmaking in the practice of healing. Visuals ranging from the vast American west to 16mm ink drawings show the journey Rosskam takes, from trying to reconcile with his reticent father to the realisation that he must confront another, deeper fact about the nature of the abuse. With the support of his partner Alex, Rosskam unfolds a family history creased with complicated understandings and expressions of love.

Jules Rosskam's against a trans narrative is a provocative and personal experimental documentary investigating dominant constructions of trans-masculine identity, gender, and the nature of community. Blending fiction, nonfiction, and experimental film genres, against a trans narrative employs a gender-busting combination of intimate diary footage, stylized dramatic scenes, spoken word performance, faux audition tapes, and roundtable interview footage to explore and initiate a dialogue between feminists, queers, and transfolk about the way we construct personal and historical narratives. Careful attention is paid to the ways generation, race, class, and culture impact our understandings of gender.