Positive Visibility Matters at GAZE Film Festival

Special Launch, Screening and Panel Discussion

Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) are delighted to invite you to a special FREE event that is taking place as part of this year’s GAZE film festival.

The special screening of My Transgender Journey will take place on Friday 1st August at 2.45pm in the Red Room, at the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield.

This will be followed by a panel discussion, and we are delighted to announce that panelists include the documentary’s producer Cat Steel; Sam and Louise who were featured in the film; and Broden Giambrone, Chief Executive of TENI, who will discuss the importance of trans visibility. TENI’s Aoife O’Driscoll will Chair proceedings.

TENI are also delighted to announce that ‘I am’, a short film by award winning team Anna Rodgers and Zlata Filipovic, will be launched at the event. This beautiful and poignant film was commissioned by TENI and is a conversational piece which explores identity.

Positive Visibility Matters

This year’s programme contains a number of other trans elements of note. For instance, on Friday 1st August at 4.30, there is a screening of Gaze Gems. This eclectic collection of films primarily looks at trans* and genderqueer lives and loves through the medium of photography, animation, dance and music.

The festival’s gala closing film on Monday 4th August is the award winning 52 Tuesdays. This is a moving feature film that portrays the difficulties that trans people and their families face during the process of transition. TENI today strongly welcomed the visibility of ‘T’ in this year’s festival programme.

“Visibility is incredibly important,” said TENI Chief Executive Broden Giambrone. “Recent mainstream representations of trans characters, such as the depiction of Nuala on RTE’s The Centre, have been dehumanising, insensitive, and transphobic. The documentary My Transgender Journey is a positive representation of the lives of trans people in Ireland, and representations matter. Positive visibility matters, and we are delighted that the GAZE programme puts the T centre stage.”

For Further Information

You can find out more about this year’s GAZE International LGBT Film Festival here.

You can find out more about the special screening and panel discussion here. The event is FREE, and you can collect your tickets on the day at the venue.

My Transgender Journey

Irish Lives: My Transgender Journey tells the story of three people, as they search for a sense of their own identity, strive for acceptance and continue to battle against their own government to be recognised in their true gender. Ireland is currently the only EU member state that does not provide a mechanism for the legal recognition of transgender persons.

In the documentary Sam, Louise and Kay give an up-close and personal account of their transgender journeys and what it is like to live in a country that does not fully accept them.

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