The 11th Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival kicks off tonight at the Egyptian Theatre with Major!, the story of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a 73-year-old Black transgender woman who has been fighting for the rights of trans women of color for more than 40 years. The film, which recently sold out its San Francisco premiere at the historic Castro Theatre, shows one woman’s journey, a community’s history, and how caring for each other can be a revolutionary act.
Miss Major is a veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. She was also incarcerated at Attica months after the 1971 Uprising, and served as the executive director of the San Francisco-based Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project.
“After that,” she said of the time after the Stonewall riots, “years you heard that oh someone threw a shoe, someone threw a beer bottle or whatever have you. I don’t know who threw what, and it doesn’t matter. All that matters was we were busting the cops’ ass, you know what I mean.”
Miss Major will be present for the screening, which starts at 7pm, along with director and producer Annalise Ophelian and co-producer and editor StormMiguel Florez.
Translations will also feature an exciting discussion with some of the remarkable talent behind Amazon’s groundbreaking transgender-centered series. The discussion panel includes pioneering star Alexandra Billings–the first openly trans woman to have played a transgender character on television back in 2005, producer Rhys Ernst, and director Silas Howard.
The weekend closes with Suited. This Lena Duhham produced documentary, fresh from its Sundance premiere, tells the story of Bindle & Keep, a Brooklyn tailoring company that makes custom suits for gender-nonconforming and transgender clients.
Translations, part of Seattle’s Trans Arts Month, celebrates the champions who have led the way for transgender communities and highlight connections through an array of voices and perspectives. The festival will take place in venues around Seattle’s Capitol Hill, including the Northwest Film Forum, the Egyptian Theatre, Gay City, and 12th Avenue Arts. Tickets are available online at translationsfilmfest.org or at the venue box offices.