Six transgender storytellers of colour have been selected for the second edition of Sundance Institute’s Trans Possibilities Intensive programme which runs March 27-29.
The 2023 Fellows are: Seyi Adebanjo, Rajvi Desai, Malik Ever, Nick Janaye, Jamie John, and Tee Park Jaehyung.
Moi Santos will lead the sessions and is founder of the Trans Possibilities Intensive. Leadership includes creative advisors including Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest), Aitch Alberto (Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe), Félix Endara (Inseen) and Chase Joynt (Framing Agnes), as well as Sundance Institute’s Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program.
The 2023 Intensive Fellows were selected through a nominations-based application and the Institute said this year’s Intensive received more than double the nominations than the inaugural cycle.
Adebanjo’s (director) project is Afromystic, a lyrical documentary guided by four LGBTQ Yorùbá practitioners across the waters of Nigeria, the US, and Brazil reclaiming lost mythologies.
Desai (director, co-producer, co-cinematographer, editor) brings Mother Wit, about an ailing Black trans matriarch who struggles to instil the values of education and survival in her community before she runs out of time.
Ever (director-writer) has GutBucket, in which a 54-year-old trans man returns to his childhood home for the first time in 20 years following his estranged mother’s sudden death.
Janaye (writer) brings Dead Ringer in which a trans man who has volunteered to prepare his father’s destination wedding is tasked with killing a shapeshifting entity that threatens the lives of attendees.
John (director-writer) has 2Spirit Water Carrier, an experimental work reflecting the Anishinaabe responsibility of carrying water and queer and trans Indigenous bodies.
Jaehyung (writer) arrives with Destiny In Sedona, in which the lives of various lovelorn transgenders intertwine as they travel through the Arizona desert.
The Trans Possibilities Intensive programme was founded in 2021 and directly supports transgender artists of colour through project-based granting. It supports trans-led projects at all stages, identifies and nurtures emerging trans talent, and offers year-round custom creative and professional development opportunities.
“Meaningfully supporting and advancing trans people, voices, and stories remains a priority for Sundance,” said Santos, manager of equity, impact, and belonging at Sundance Institute. “The recent, incessant, and baseless scrutiny is nothing new to trans people, and further reflects the need for opportunities for trans people to have the autonomy to explore their transness on their own terms.”
Santos will moderate a live conversation on March 29 on Sundance Collab, the Institute’s digital learning space for artists from around the world, called ‘Trapped In Transit: Transgender Storytelling with Visionary Filmmakers Aitch Alberto and Sydney Freeland.’
Previous Intensive Fellows include River Gallo, who has since completed the feature Ponyboi with Intensive support in addition to starring in a short that premiered at BFI Flare; Savannah Ward, now represented by WME; StormMiguel Florez, the 2022 SFFILM Rainin Grant Winner who recently made a proof of concept short for Welcome To Roswell); MiSha Owens, selected as 2022 Sundance Institute Native Lab Artist in Residence; and Ava Davis. now a member of Film Independent, Women in Film, and Film Fatales.
This year’s Sundance Film Festival was a landmark year for trans-led projects with several films winning awards: D. Smith’s Kokomo City won the NEXT Innovator Award and NEXT Audience Award and was acquired worldwide by Magnolia Pictures; Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker’s The Stroll, winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award: Clarity of Vision and recent BFI Flare opening film; Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s Mutt, which earned the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Acting for Lio Mehiel; and Rest Stop, produced by Brit Fryer, winner of the U.S. Fiction Short Film Jury Award.
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