The QUEER FUTURES series centers joy and connection to radically imagine future visions of queer life. Four short films explore fat beauty and liberation, gender-affirming healthcare, nonbinary siblinghood in ballroom culture, and the anonymous connections of a decades-old LGBTQ hotline. Transcending the rigidity and oppressions of the current moment, these films build speculative worlds that offer new ways of being — in the present and the future. Just as queer lives subvert normative expectations of behavior, identity and expression, these directors expand the boundaries of nonfiction forms to present new ways of seeing the queer experience lived out loud.
How to Carry Water (Dir. Sasha Wortzel, 15 min. Closed-captioning available on this short only)
This punk rock fairytale doubles as a portrait of Shoog McDaniel — a fat, queer and disabled photographer working in and around northern Florida’s vast network of freshwater springs, the state’s source of precious drinking water.
The Script (Dirs. Brit Fryer and Noah Schamus, 15 min.)
Blending personal interviews with dramatized genre recreations, The Script explores the complicated relationship between trans and nonbinary communities and medical providers regarding gender-affirming care.
MnM (Dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon, 15 min.)
MnM is an exuberant portrait of chosen sisters Mermaid and Milan, two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community. Celebrating their joy, siblinghood and unapologetic personas, the film explores the power and beauty of being nonbinary in a community that prizes gender realness.
The Callers (Dir. Lindsey Dryden, 20 min.)
The Callers combines anonymous documentary testimony with imagined creative scenes to tell the story of those who have called the oldest queer support line in the U.K., seeking guidance on everything from where to find the nearest leather club to how to come out, start a family or mend a broken heart.
“If QUEER FUTURES sets the precedent for this kind of newly imagined queer documentary practice…aimed at centering joy and liberation instead of trauma…then the future is bright.” —Chris Cassingham, Little White Lies “What would it look like to imagine a radically different future for queer life, rooted in joy and liberation? QUEER FUTURES, a new series produced by Multitude Films, invites us to practice this exercise over the course of four short films.” —Dessane Lopez Cassell, Seen
