When BFI Flare hosted a panel on transgender representation in 2008, a trans actor in a mainstream drama seemed just a dream. In 2012, we met again for Are We Nearly There Yet? with Paris Lees predicting trans characters would soon appear in TV soaps. Well, a lot has happened since. BBC’s Boy Meets Girl has been commissioned for a second series; trans media representation is now major transatlantic news; we’ve seen a Channel 4 trans documentary series; trans actors in indie sensation Tangeri...
When BFI Flare hosted a panel on transgender representation in 2008, a trans actor in a mainstream drama seemed just a dream. In 2012, we met again for Are We Nearly There Yet? with Paris Lees predicting trans characters would soon appear in TV soaps. Well, a lot has happened since. BBC’s Boy Meets Girl has been commissioned for a second series; trans media representation is now major transatlantic news; we’ve seen a Channel 4 trans documentary series; trans actors in indie sensation Tangerine; Eddie Redmayne was nominated for his performance as a trans woman in The Danish Girl; trans director Silas Howard joined Transparent, while trans director Lana Wachowski delivered Sense8 featuring a trans performer as trans character. Clearly, it’s time to check back in… we have a lot to talk about! Join us for this conversation in a panel that will be chaired by Dr Jay Stewart MBE, Director of Gendered Intelligence, and hosted by Flare’s Jason Barker. They will be joined by, amongst others:
Juliet Jacques – a British journalist, critic and writer of short fiction best-known for The Guardian’s ‘Transgender Journey’— the first time the gender reassignment process had been serialised for a major British publication. Her column was longlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2011. She was included in the Independent’s Pink List for 2012, 2013 and 2014, and is a regular contributor to the New Statesman. She has also written for Granta, TimeOut, Filmwaves, 3am, the London Review of Books, the New Humanist, the New Inquiry, and many other publications.
Campbell X – directed the award-winning LGBTQ urban comedy feature film Stud Life set in East London. Campbell is developing a second feature film (a queer thriller road trip movie) and is currently in post-production of DES!RE, a short experimental film exploring desire for transmen, butch, stud, AG and Masculine of Center people.
Faizan Fiaz – a journalist and filmmaker who has worked extensively in Pakistan for news organisations such as the Associated Press, CCTV News, BBC, Channel 4 News, Radio France International, Daily Telegraph, NPR, Vice News and others.