TRANSMUSEPLANET : Germany's Transgender Film Festival 2014

By Sabrina Samone

Yet again, I'd like to thank Andy Gras/Traum-kino and the rest of the team behind Germany's annual Transgender film festival for choosing again, Transmuseplanet, to share the winners of this year`s film festival with the international Trans community. Germany stands a very close second to America when it comes to the readership here at TMP, so I'm glad to share the exciting news and work our brothers and sisters in the Germany community are doing to celebrate and empower the Trans community.

What exactly is the extent of the work they are doing? In an era where Trans-actors are denied or looked over for work, given only the minimal and stereotypical roles, this film festival along with a growing number of exclusively Transgender film festivals are sprouting up across the globe. Enhancing the visibility of multifaceted and talented Trans directors, producers, writers, actors, singers, models and a host of well deserved to be recognized talents within our community.

This years exciting list includes the controversial, The Dallas Buyer's Club, which received mixed reviews within the community it was intended to represent, but yet again portraying a free heterosexual white male as a struggling Transgender woman. Many feel it is the typical role of an actor to act in any character given a chance to, it is the very definition of acting but many are angry not at the actor that has proven himself worthy of portraying a character but at the entertainment business for it's unwillingness to even consider Transgender actors for trans roles.

This year's stand out winner, in my opinion, is the short film, The Journey; about an often unspoken part of our community, transgender women isolated from families and any support and due to identification laws in our country, are forced into a life of sex work. With this film and several of the other winners in this years Germany Transgender Film Festival, I walked away with a feeling of not so much a celebration of being trans as I did last year, but reminded over and over again of the turmoil and tribulations of a Trans life.

Unlike last years winner, which featured several projects about Trans-men, this years Festival seemed to be lacking in that category with the exception of Shirts vs. Skins, which by the way, unlike any of last years winners, finally featured Trans men of color in an award winning short film.

Overall it remains an exciting list of new entertainment choices for our community and for the world at large to take a glimpse into what it means to be Trans. So again, congratulations to our friends at Germany's Transgender Film Festival for yet another outstanding year of celebrating the T in films.

Awards of

Germany's TRANSGENDER FILMFESTIVAL

Best FeatureFilm of the Year:
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
http://www.dallasbuyersclub.com

Best Performance:
Miles Szanto
in BRUNO AND EARLENE GO TO VEGAS

Best Trans Performance (MtF):
Guillaume Gallienne
in ME MYSELF AND MUM

Best Actress (non tg-role):
Jennifer Garner
in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Best Actor (non tg-role):
Matthew McConaughey
in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

Best Documentary Film:
ONE ZERO ONE
http://www.onezeroonemovie.com

Best Song:
DON'T LEAVE ME NOW by Supertramp
in ME MYSELF AND MUM

Best Poster:
BAMBI

Best Website:
What's the T

Best short Film:
THE JOURNEY
Dir. Kerri Cecil

Best Trans-Performances in a short Film (MtF):
Peter Dillon in
BRIGHT SPARKS & DARKNESS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oACm4JILuF8

Emily Lucid in
THE JOURNEY

Ronique Veira inPOSH

Best Trans-Performance in a short Film (FtM):
Tajir S. Hawkins
in SHIRTS VS SKINS