Starring: Edward D. Wood Jr., Bela Lugosi, Lyle Talbot, Timothy Farrell, Dolores Fuller
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Thoughtful, surreal, and daring, Glen or Glenda is the infamous directorial debut from Ed Wood (Plan 9 From Outer Space). Glen (played by Ed himself) has a secret which could destroy a happily-ever-after with his lady, for how can she handle another woman in Glen’s life? And what will she do when she finds out Glen is the other woman? And what in the world is Bela Lugosi going on about when he says, “PULL THE STRINGS?!” As we re-examine our cinematic past, Glen or Glenda emerges as the world’s first trans-centric movie—though as it predates contemporary terminology, its characters are not technically definied within the movie as “trans.” Glen or Glenda is not only rock-solid history—it’s deeply touching as well.
With bonus extended pre-show material!
Starring: Steve Zahn, Jillian Bell, Sasha Knight, Ann Dowd
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Steve Zahn stars as Troy, a troubled but well-intentioned father who has recently separated from his wife Sally (Jillian Bell). Aghast at Sally’s refusal to let their trans son Joe (Sasha Knight) live as his authentic self, Troy runs off with Joe into the Montana wilderness. Meanwhile, police detective (Ann Dowd) pursues them, but her resolve about the case is tested the more she learns about Joe’s family. Cowboys, a modern day western from director Anna Kerrigan, is a tale of rescue, family betrayal and a father and son on the run.
Starring: Anna Celestino Mota, Emmanuel Rosset, Thaís Schier, Surya Amitrano, Matheus Moura, Katia Horn
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Alice Júnior is a transgender Youtuber who is carefree and spoiled a lot. After moving with her father to a small town where her new high school seems stuck in time, the young lady has to survive her new environment with all its prejudice in order to achieve her greatest desire: having her first kiss.
Starring: Jessi Gaston, Marten Katze, Milo Talwani
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
A passive-aggressive tenderqueer couple sends their household into a quiet tailspin when they adopt an elderly dog with the same name as the unemployed couch surfer they just can’t seem to confront. 56 min.
Preceded by:
If you know you know (IYKYK) (Bonita Rajpurohit, 2024, India)
We follow Kusum, a trans girl on a series of dates with boys; As they find themselves trying to straddle the line of respecting her boundaries and expressing themselves and failing at it most of the time. 18 min.
SYDNEY & KIM (Hazel Katz, 2024, USA)
After 25-year old Sydney is released from the hospital following a major facial surgery, her best friend Kim cares for her at a motel during her recovery. As Kim’s flirtation with the motel manager escalates, Sydney’s resentment begins to boil over. Through intimate moments in their motel room, Sydney and Kim navigate the implicit expectations of their friendship. Shot on Super 16mm film. 16 min.
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
In the wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary Kokomo City, filmmaker D. Smith passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City — Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver — who unapologetically break down the walls of their profession. Holding nothing back, the film vibrates with energy, sex, challenge, and hard-earned wisdom.
Preceded by:
HOW NOT TO DATE WHILE TRANS (Nyala Moon, 2022)
A break-the-fourth-wall, dark comedy that follows the dating life of a black trans woman and the problematic men she meets along the way. 14 mins.
Starring: Charmaine Lee Anderson, Gus Harvey, Clark Kent, Val Martin, Jim-Ed Thompson, Joe Yale
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Fred Halsted, in this sexually and politically-charged film, establishes visual dialogue between intense homosexual BDSM sequences (including some with his lover Joe Yale) and trans women and drag queens at an upscale party in Los Angeles.
Preceded by:
LINDA/LES AND ANNIE (Johnny Armstrong, Albert Jaccoma, Annie Sprinkle, 1989)
A fun, unique, sexy and informative video docudrama about Les Nichols, a trans man. It includes an intimate view of the night he and Annie Sprinkle tried out his new, surgically-constructed genitalia for the first time. 32 min.
This XXX film is an important part of LGBTQ film history, and should be celebrated and viewed as such. Any inappropriate behavior during this screening will not be tolerated and will result in permanent banishment from Nitehawk Cinema. Forever. Thank you!
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
Keyboard Fantasies tells the story of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, a black transgender septuagenarian (and musical genius) who finally finds his place in the world. When Glenn receives an unexpected email in 2016 from a record collector in Japan inquiring about copies of his 1986 self-release, Keyboard Fantasies, everything changes. Now signed to a major indie label, and sharing a timely message with the world, Glenn’s emergence from obscurity transpires as an intimate coming of age story that spins the pain and suffering of prejudice into rhythm, hope and joy.
Before the feature, please enjoy a brief selection of music videos from Black trans and non-binary musicians that carry on the legacy of Beverly Glenn-Copleland.
Starring: Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, Jens Taschner, Ichgola Androgyn, Robert Dietl, Evelyn Cron
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
2K scan courtesy of Elizabeth Purchell
East German trans icon Charlotte von Mahlsdorf guides Rosa von Praunheim through the retelling of her incredible life story in this biopic that blurs the lines between traditional narrative and documentary. As much about the joys of collecting antique furniture as it is Mahlsdorf’s role in fostering and protecting queer community in East Berlin, I Am My Own Woman is one of the few trans biopics to truly feel as radical and as original as its subject.
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
35mm print courtesy of Elizabeth Purchell
Decades before Paris is Burning, there was… The Queen. Frank Simon’s legendary documentary follows planning, production, and immediate fallout from drag impresario Flawless Sabrina’s 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant at New York’s Town Hall. Featuring candid conversations about the reality of pre-Stonewall queer life and cameos from then-and-future icons like Mario Montez and International Chrysis, The Queen is an essential early work of queer cinema that set the groundwork for everything from documentaries like TV Transvestite (1982) and Paris is Burning (1990) to RuPaul’s drag empire.
Preceded by:
MONSIEUR LE BUTCH (Jude Dry, 2020)
Jude wants top surgery, Mom wants an “old lady pass” on the whole pronouns thing. 12 min.
With bonus extended pre-show material!
Starring: Desiree Lane, Sulka, Ron Jeremy
To make an additional $10 donation to Advocates for Trans Equality, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.
35mm print courtesy of Elizabeth Purchell
And they said it couldn’t be done! In this sequel to the groundbreaking trans erotic film Sulka’s Wedding, young adoptee Jenny (Desiree Lane) leaves her small-town home in search of fame and the identity of her mysterious birth mother in Hollywood. Little does she know that she’ll find both when she begins working as a dancer at a club owned by the glamorous trans icon Sulka.
Though less trans-centric than its predecessor, Sulka’s Daughter is a wonderful example of the surprising level of trans representation in the adult film industry—courtesy of director Kim Christy and their Female Mimics International magazine—at a time when Hollywood couldn’t care less. And remember—as the original poster warned, “If abnormal sex offends you… do not see this movie!”
This XXX film is an important part of LGBTQ film history, and should be celebrated and viewed as such. Any inappropriate behavior during this screening will not be tolerated and will result in permanent banishment from Nitehawk Cinema. Forever. Thank you!
