LSFF: Otherness Archive: the forgotten archives of the trans masc experience
Tuesday 18th January 2022, 7pm
*VENUE CHANGE* This event is now taking place at The Genesis Cinema
£6
The Otherness Archive defies the historic censorship of homosexual, trans and racial themes, and instead highlights them as representations of otherness that deserve equal, if not greater, recognition. Otherness acts as a route into complex narratives and subjectivities that make for richer cinema. Our guest curation with the London Short Film Festival focuses on the forgotten archives of the trans masc experience.
We found that while digging for material in the archives that there was a lack of trans masc films, video art and general moving image work. Not only does the trans masc experience exist outside of traditional cinema, but also in home movies and erotica from earlier eras. Has the trans person been merely forgotten or intentionally erased due to prejudices or were those in position of power to preserve such work unable to spot otherness? Perhaps this forgotten archive can be explained partially by trans masc moving image works being misclassified under the lesbian or sapphic genre, due in part to the little terminology that was available at the time. In this program we choose to center the varied and intimate masculinities of authentic trans experience in film now.
The majority of films centering trans masculinities are erotic leading to the programme being presented as two halves; one looking at the trans masc experience in documentary and art house films, and the other dedicated to the erotic. Staying true to the ethos of Otherness Archive, our screenings and workshops are a place for those who understand and want to celebrate otherness.
There is no structure and most of it is peer lead. We are excited to provide works that might not be accessible to the public due to linguistic, financial and institutional barriers. We are relatively new, and thus are experimenting with DIY methods of watching and hearing cinema, and of understanding those who create it.
What Makes A Man?, Chella Man & Andre, 1', 2021, United Kingdom
The Man From Venus, James Diamond, 3', 1999, Canada
Boys in the Backyard, Annette Kennerley, 1998, United Kingdom
Mes Chéris, Jamal Phoenix, 13', 2020, Germany
Mirror, Mirror, Paula Levine, 3', 1987, USA
Fly Hole, Malic Amalya, 6', 2018, USA