‘Trans:Missions - The Politics of Identity, Precarity, and Community within Transgender Film Festivals in Sheffield, Amsterdam, and Berlin’ is the first comparative organisational analysis of film festivals to focus specifically on transgender, non-binary and gender-non-conforming filmmakers and films. As a multi-modal project, this study charts the establishment and subsequent development of three activist film festivals within their specific socioeconomic and cultural contexts (TranScreen, Amsterdam; Transformations, Berlin; Transforming Cinema, Sheffield), while documenting the immediate concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic for activist festival circuits.

Situating these trans film festivals as pivotal sites of grassroots resistance, this study broadly examines three main strands of research related to the themes of identity, precarity, and activism. In terms of identity, this research identifies how terms such as ‘trans’ and ‘film’ are defined transnationally and who appear to be the ‘gate-keepers’ of such definitions and representations. The comparative axis of this research further allows for an examination of how each of these terms are culturally contingent and to what extent these definitions influence the programming choices of each festival. On the problems of precarity, the main research questions of this project concerns the challenges faced by festival organisers in terms of access to funding, space and labour, as well as the kinds of (municipal) funding that is available to organisers in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Sheffield. How the interests of stakeholder shape these film festivals also figures as a key subject of enquiry, alongside the social responsibilities of ‘minority’ festivals to rely less on unpaid labour and the exploitation of cultural workers. Finally, in my analysis of festival ‘activism’, I compare the struggles of trans film festivals to represent marginalised experiences and to bring together real and imagined communities of trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people, while remaining economically viable. Here, I further examine how
activist politics are regionally and relationally structured, while looking at the impact of the current pandemic on the future of minority festivals due to the extraordinary effects of national lockdowns.

‘Trans:Missions - The Politics of Identity, Precarity, and Community within Transgender Film Festivals in Sheffield, Amsterdam, and Berlin’ is the first comparative organisational analysis of film festivals to focus specifically on transgender, non-binary and gender-non-conforming filmmakers and films. As a multi-modal project, this study charts the establishment and subsequent development of three activist film festivals within their specific socioeconomic and cultural contexts (TranScreen, Amsterdam; Transformations, Berlin; Transforming Cinema, Sheffield), while documenting the immediate concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic for activist festival circuits.

Situating these trans film festivals as pivotal sites of grassroots resistance, this study broadly examines three main strands of research related to the themes of identity, precarity, and activism. In terms of identity, this research identifies how terms such as ‘trans’ and ‘film’ are defined transnationally and who appear to be the ‘gate-keepers’ of such definitions and representations. The comparative axis of this research further allows for an examination of how each of these terms are culturally contingent and to what extent these definitions influence the programming choices of each festival. On the problems of precarity, the main research questions of this project concerns the challenges faced by festival organisers in terms of access to funding, space and labour, as well as the kinds of (municipal) funding that is available to organisers in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Sheffield. How the interests of stakeholder shape these film festivals also figures as a key subject of enquiry, alongside the social responsibilities of ‘minority’ festivals to rely less on unpaid labour and the exploitation of cultural workers. Finally, in my analysis of festival ‘activism’, I compare the struggles of trans film festivals to represent marginalised experiences and to bring together real and imagined communities of trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people, while remaining economically viable. Here, I further examine how
activist politics are regionally and relationally structured, while looking at the impact of the current pandemic on the future of minority festivals due to the extraordinary effects of national lockdowns.

Trans: Missions is a comparative organisational study focusing on European festivals for transgender, non-binary and gender-non-conforming filmmakers and their works. This project looks at the development of community-based and activist festivals in the face of financial precarity and examines the significance of film festivals to identity- and community building projects. Documenting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study foregrounds a hard-hit corner of the cultural sector, while connecting organisers, creators and visitors across borders.