91ÉçÇø

I am a genderfluid non-binary independent filmmaker based in Montreal, as well as a Bachelor of Arts student at 91ÉçÇø. Although my major is in English Literature, I also hold two minors: one in World Cinemas and one in Gender, Sexuality, Feminist & Social Justice Studies (GSFS). By exploring all three of these areas of study in intersection with one another, one main interest of my studies is the relation between narrative & aesthetics to political, social & ideological concerns, particularly related to gender, queerness, & difference. I am currently developing an honours thesis centered on exploring depictions of gender-non-conformity in the genre of body-horror, for my major in English Literature. In addition, I develop a number of film projects which explore genderqueerness through genre or experimental lenses (both in academic and non-academic contexts). This overview should hopefully give a background to my own studies, interests and projects, in a way which illuminates the relevance of my internship experience to my creative and academic goals & interests.

I wanted to participate in the development of Montreal’s first ever trans film festival for a number of reasons. Firstly, it felt like a good opportunity to put my research interests into practical application. More importantly, however, as a genderqueer filmmaker who has lived in Montreal for my whole life, this felt like a very personal process, a way to be a part of building a sense of community for my fellow trans artists, both locally and internationally. While the networking and community-building connections have been very affirming and made this internship a very worthwhile process, there is a sense of long-term investment involved in my desire to get this project off the ground as well. By helping to create a space for transgressive, queer, gender-diverse and gender-deconstructive media & art to be supported & sustained in the city I call home, I am helping build a future space & infrastructure for myself & my peers. I would love to screen my own film work in this festival one day and would even like to potentially come back and work for the festival again in future years.

As an Intern, my responsibilities and workload were varied, especially since this festival is a rather new project. At first, I was working in research & data collection: looking into what artists, activists, academics could be worth inviting as potential speakers; looking into what avenues the festival had as funding/grant options; looking into what queer and/or film organizations could be worthwhile community partners, etc. Then, another big part of my responsibilities has been coordinating the festival’s email – answering filmmakers’ questions, reaching out to them to request screening materials, etc. – and downloading/collecting all of the films’ screening copies and uploading them to the festival’s Google Drive. These two parts have been really good learning opportunities, in the sense that they gave me peak a behind the curtain. I have only ever experienced film festival culture and processes form the side of the filmmaker, when I’ve submitted my own work to festivals, and now I’ve gotten a chance to better understand the functionality of the festival from the side of the organizers. Additionally, emailing the filmmakers, who have sent in work from around the world, has given me a really strong feeling of global community. Similarly, I got the chance to work the ticket booth at a pre-festival fundraiser screening we did back in July, where I greeted every single audience member as they entered, which gave me a strong feeling of local community. These have been beautiful feelings. 

Additionally, due to my filmmaking experience, my creative side has also been used a lot, as one of my main responsibilities has been the production of promotional material. I edited a trailer for our July pre-festival fundraiser screening, and I am still in the process of working on cutting together a main festival trailer, to be included in digital press for the festival. In addition to the main trailer, I will also be cutting smaller micro-trailers for the festival’s different screening programs. This has been a very worthwhile, productive learning experience, and a development of transferable skills, as I have had to learn how to use pre-existing work (the films we will be screening) to balance both a creative, formally strong work of video editing, as well as an effective piece of promotion that will hopefully convince people to attend.

As the previous paragraph on my current creative work for the internship indicates, this experience is not yet over for me. I still have trailers to finish, and more importantly, the actual festival itself will be in September, which will be a very rewarding experience to attend. I look forward to the festival, to meet the filmmakers I communicated with over email, watch a bunch of trans art, and most centrally: to continue networking, and to feel an even deeper sense of community, and appreciate the experience of being present in the queer film space I had a hand in creating. I can’t wait to attend the festival and to see what the Exposures festival will continue to bring me in future years. I would like to sincerely thank the Arts Internship Office, Mr. Gregg Blachford and Dr. David 91ÉçÇøivray for giving me the wonderful opportunity to work with Exposures