by Andrea James
Posted:
We were particularly honored when trans pioneer Lynn Conway agreed to write the foreword. Lynn has done so much to help the community through her websites and mentoring, and she’s a living link to the earliest days of the movement. Transgress Press has graciously allowed me to excerpt her words here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrea-james/exclusive-excerpt-from-tr_b_5613987.html
By Dominic Clarke | /Bent
July 22, 2014
“Transamerica” is nearly ten years old but it is a film that was so far ahead of its time in the treatment of transgender characters that the film world still hasnât caught up. It truly stands out as the finest U.S. film honoring what it means to transition as an adult. The domestic film business is generally not interested in any portrayal of trans characters and especially not accurate portrayals of trans people. Sometimes those of us in underrepresented communities view a film and give it a weight that it might not deserve simply because weâre thrilled to be seeing a version of ourselves reflected back. Transamerica is a film that, in my opinion, deserves a second look for everything it did right at a time when transgender issues were not nearly as talked about as they are now.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/bent/trans-in-the-mainstream-the-state-of-trans-representation-and-why-transamerica-remains-so-important-20140722
The new book Trans Bodies, Trans Selves is a collection of essays describing the varied experiences of transgender people â and the social, political and medical issues they face. It’s written by and for transgender and gender-nonconforming people. The idea was inspired by the groundbreaking 1970s feminist health manual Our Bodies, Ourselves.
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/17/332051691/trans-bodies-trans-selves-a-modern-manual-by-and-for-trans-people
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community
Published in 2014 by Oxford University Press
by Mitch Kellaway
JULY 16 2014
“If you could write just one letter to someone who is beginning their gender transition or to your younger, pre-transition self, what would you say?”
A new anthology, Letters for My Sisters: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect, asked transgender women to answer this question, according to publisher Transgress Press. The result is a heartfelt collection of advice, confessions, regrets, and triumphs from 35 women â the largest number of contributors to a collection by trans women yet published.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2014/07/16/trans-women-share-wisdom-us-us
by Mat Viola
June 12, 2014
Living Things consists of a dinner-table debate between a vegan and a meat-eater. Thatâs it: just two people sitting down to dinner and debating the morality of eating animals. Never having been a fan of two-handers, I had my doubts about the film, but because its subject matter interests me, I decided to give it a look. To my surprise it wasnât half bad. Despite having its share of overwritten dialogue, the film is watchable because of the intense interplay between the two characters, whose increasingly malicious verbal sparring steadily escalates, then spins out of control and, finally, explodes into physical violence.
The acting too is better than expected, especially that of Ben Siegler as Leo, a macho meat-muncher whose incipient rage bubbles under the surface of his barbed comments, sarcastic retorts, mocking tone and unwavering eye contact. Siegler brings considerable intensity to the role, so much so that he overmatches Rhoda Jordan, who plays Leoâs vegan daughter-in-law, Rhona.
Read the rest
At our film’s Hawaii premiere with Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie. Photo courtesy @boysurfer on Twitter. â with Alec Mapa and Jamie Hebert at Honolulu Museum of Art.
BY DANIEL REYNOLDS
JULY 09 2014
The Advocate asked the filmmakers at Outfest who their fantasy LGBT film subject might be â as well as who they would cast as the lead.
Alec Mapa, played by Honey Boo Boo
âIâd make Talented Colon The Alec Mapa Story, with the word âcolonâ spelled out, not the punctuation mark. Alec is the Pinoy Le PĂ©tomane. It would star Honey Boo Boo as young Alec and use repurposed clips from Weng Weng films for Alecâs later life.â
âAndrea James is a self-described âtranny filmmaker and activist.â She is the director of Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy.
http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/film/2014/07/09/which-lgbt-icon-deserves-biopic
Published on Jul 9, 2014
Director Andrea James discusses the “WTF Triangle,” breakfast disasters, the changing landscape of queer cinema…
Micah Van Hove
July 9, 2014
Outfestâs Director of Programming Kristin Pepe had this to say about the festival this year:
In the year following spectacular LGBT civil rights advances across the country, the dynamic and fresh slate of 2014 NewFest films decisively demonstrates that artists and storytellers lead the charge in creating social change.
Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy with Andrea James:
JULY 07 2014 8:00 AM ET
As âAmericaâs Gaysian Sweetheart,â comic performer Alec Mapa has forged a funny and fruitful career on shows like Ugly Betty and the Logo stand-up comedy series Wisecrack, in which he draws material from his life in show business and his experiences as a gay Filipino-American. However, his greatest challenge and accomplishment to date is featured in his latest documentary,Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy. Directed by Andrea James, Baby Daddy tells the story of Mapa and his partner, Jamison Hebert, as they foster and then adopt their son, Zion. Framed by scenes of life in their L.A. home, the film centers on Mapaâs recent show at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, where he shares the trials and joys of foster care and parenthood with humor, wisdom, and love.
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