AB HEUTE - Der lange Weg zum eigenen Namen

[STARTIG TODAY: The long road to your own name]

Directed by: Sophia Emmerich, Sam Arndt | 47 min | Germany | 2022

AB HEUTE is an authentic, intimate documentary giving voice to the discriminatory legal process of official name change experienced by transgender people in Germany. By sharing such a moving compilation of stories from the transgender community, the film lays bare the honest and varied experiences of navigating a legal system that seeks to invalidate transgender lives.

Director’s Statement:

AB HEUTE is the first documentary Sam and I produced. For us it was very important to work with an exclusively queer team and to give the trans community an authentic voice. "Ab heute" can be translated into "starting today". With this documentation we want to raise awareness for the constant discrimination trans people face especially in the legal system. We hope to initiate change and that change has to "start today".

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SPECTACULAR INTIMACY

Directed by: Fanie Pelletier | 16 min | Canada | 2022

In the YouTube era, exhibitionism and voyeurism echo each other and reach their paroxysm. Boundaries between private and public life are blurring. Intimacy becomes spectacle. Gabrielle Marion knows this more than anyone. Famous YouTuber from Quebec, she has been documenting her life and her sexual transition for eight years.

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INSIDE THE BEAUTY BUBBLE

Directed by: Cheryl Bookout, Cheri Gaulke | 31 min | USA | 2022

Inside the Beauty Bubble is a short documentary film about a renowned collector of hair artifacts fighting to keep his desert dreams alive. The Beauty Bubble Salon & Museum in Joshua Tree is the magical and kitsch-filled brainchild of Jeff Hafler.

Director’s Statement:

Giving voice to inclusivity and affirming the transformative nature of art is important to us. We invite the audience to take a glimpse into one man's life as he follows his dream to own a roadside attraction, the Beauty Bubble Salon & Museum, in the Mojave desert village of Joshua Tree, CA, while he nurtures his family — same-sex, adoptive and bi-racial.

We followed Jeff Hafler through the seasons starting in 2019 pre-COVID and through the difficult days of COVID lockdown — with safety protocols in place. Our story's destination was always to lead up to an exciting culminating exhibition of Jeff's personal artwork and items from his museum collection at the SFO Museum.

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SOPHIA EMMERICH

Director, AB HEUTE

Sophia is a queer photographer and videographer based in Berlin. Her work focuses on visibility and authentic representation of the queer community. She has collaborated with well-known brands such as Adobe, Skillshare and Fabletics and her images have been published in several international magazines. Her law degree allows her to take a clear and informed look at complex issues, ultimately combining social change and art.

FANIE PELLETIER

Director, Spetacular Intimacy

Fanie Pelletier holds a bachelor's degree in social sciences and a second one in cinema.

In 2017, she directed the film Vagabonds for Les grands reportages of Radio-Canada. She is currently working on her film Jouvancelles which deals with female adolescence in the age of social media.

CHERYL BOOKOUT, CHERI GAULKE

Directors, Inside the Beauty Bubble

Cheryl Bookout is a filmmaker and studio artist that serves as the Executive Director and Founder of The Chimaera Project, a nonprofit that champions women and non-binary filmmakers.

Cheri Gaulke is a pioneer in the feminist art movement in Los Angeles and her work has been presented in film festivals internationally.