Documentary
Consider Manhattan a sprawling Hollywood set. Amongst the swarms of people that crowd the streets like extras, Fayaaz Bijli is another face relegated to the background of our visual spectrum. Come sundown, however, and the inconspicuous Fayaaz morphs into the iconic personae of ‘Bijli,’ a voluptuous Pakistani drags queen. Yet beneath the flamboyant stage presence lies a courageous individual who has carved out a unique and cherished identity for herself in a world that has been all too quick to label her as an ‘outsider’. Defining herself as a woman stuck in a man’s body, Fayaaz has spent her life struggling between the polar tensions of male/female, East/West and Islamic faith/promiscuity. This film is a glimpse into Fayaaz’s psyche as she navigates her way through a New York City life.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Disclosure
Kelet
Hold on Tight
Untold: Caitlyn Jenner
Tailor
Paris Is Burning
Man Made
Call Her Ganda
High Heels Revolution!
Diagnosing Difference
Shinjuku Boys
The Sex Changes That Made History
Transgender Parents
Prodigal Sons
Transhood
I Don't Know
Sidney & Friends
DeRosa: Life, Love & Art in Transition
Deep Run
Gay Positive
SIMILAR MOVIES
Disclosure
IMDB 7.8 | Jun , 2020
An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.Kelet
IMDB 4.8 | Jan , 2020
Kelet is a twentysomething black trans woman, whose greatest dream is to be on the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, such models as Naomi Campbell and Iman served as role models giving her strength – and during the darkest times, kept her alive. After coming out, then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family and she moved back to Finland on her own.Hold on Tight
IMDB 3.8 | Jul , 2011
A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.Untold: Caitlyn Jenner
IMDB 6.5 | Aug , 2021
Caitlyn Jenner's unlikely path to Olympic glory was inspirational. But her more challenging road to embracing her true self proved even more meaningful.Tailor
IMDB 10 | Jun , 2017
Tailor is a transgender cartoonist that shares in his web page other trans people’s experiences and their challenges in society. Film about transgender, made by transgender crew.Paris Is Burning
IMDB 8 | Mar , 1991
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.Man Made
IMDB 0 | May , 2018
From adoption and homelessness to navigating relationships and overcoming self-harm, the four transmen in MAN MADE all have something else in common: they are all bodybuilders. Through the lens of FTMFitCon, the world’s only FTM bodybuilding competition, we delve into the lives of Dominic, Rese, Mason, and Kennie as they define what it means to be a man while contextualizing that definition through the social, racial, and economic realities of their lives. For the men of MAN MADE, it’s not about winning—it’s about stepping on stage and being seen for everything they are.Call Her Ganda
IMDB 5.4 | Apr , 2018
When Jennifer Laude, a Filipina trans woman, is brutally murdered by a U.S. Marine, three women intimately invested in the case--an activist attorney, a transgender journalist and Jennifer's mother)--galvanize a political uprising, pursuing justice and taking on hardened histories of US imperialism.High Heels Revolution!
IMDB 6.4 | Sep , 2016
From a young age, Natsuki knew she was a girl despite her sex assigned at birth. Against the backdrop of conservative Japanese society, this poignant docudrama tells her remarkable story of gender transition. Reflecting on her high school years, Natsuki interviews the supportive friends and family who supported her choices – and also confronts the people those who oppressed her freedom. Tracing Natsumi’s story to the present, this compelling portrait of gender identity in contemporary Japan offers insights of a layered experience in a complex society.Diagnosing Difference
IMDB 6 | Jun , 2009
How does it feel to have your gender identity included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? Diagnosing Difference is a documentary featuring interviews with 13 diverse scholars, activists, and artists who identify on the trans spectrum (transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, and gender variant) about the impact and implications of the Gender Identity Disorder (GID) on their lives and communities.Shinjuku Boys
IMDB 6.7 | Dec , 1995
This documentary is set in the New Marilyn night club in Tokyo, Japan - where the hosts are transgender men. They can only make their living as hosts in a nightclub with other wannabes like them. The young women who come there often have relationships with them but the underlying fear is whether such a relationship can withstand the pressures on a girl to get married and have children. All three boys deal with this in different ways. These three hosts, the Shinjuku Boys, take us into their lives.The Sex Changes That Made History
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2015
Sex reassignment surgery is now almost a commonplace procedure, but back in the early 20th century, it was seen as 'science fiction surgery'. When the news broke of a successful first attempt, it was a sensation. This is the gripping story of three extraordinary people: the world's first person to undergo a female to male transition; the former Spitfire pilot who became Britain's first to transition from male to female; and the daring advanced plastic surgeon who carried out these surgeries in the 1940s. Michael Dillon - previously named Laura - had persuaded the brilliant Sir Harold Gillies, the founding father of plastic surgery, to carry out the female-to-male operation that no surgeon in the world had ever attempted. Both then helped former race car driver and wartime pilot Robert Cowell undertake their own transition.Transgender Parents
IMDB 6.2 | Aug , 2014
Transgender Parents takes the conversation about parenting and transsexuality to the next level: Some parents transitioned in the presence of their kids and some who transitioned prior to founding families - being out as trans and as parents, in ways that weren't possible 20 years ago. Transgender Parents centers the importance of access to building and continuing parent-child relationship in the presence of a gender transition. It is a tender look at the art of parenting, testimony to some of the hardest relational work in this life.Prodigal Sons
IMDB 5.3 | Aug , 2008
Filmmaker Kimberly Reed returns home for her high school reunion, ready to reintroduce herself to the small town as a transgender woman and hoping for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother Marc. Things are complicated by the shocking revelation that Marc may be the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, forcing Kim and her family to explore questions of sexual orientation, identity, severe trauma and love.Transhood
IMDB 4.2 | May , 2020
Filmed over five years in Kansas City, this documentary follows four transgender kids – beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 – as they redefine “coming of age.” These kids and their families show us the intimate realities of how gender is re-shaping the family next door in a unique and unprecedented chronicle of growing up transgender in the heartland.I Don't Know
IMDB 3.2 | Nov , 1971
A truly major work, I Don’t Know observes the relationship between a lesbian and a transgender person who prefers to be identified somewhere in between male and female, in an expression of personal ambiguity suggested by the film’s title. This nonfiction film – an unusual, partly staged work of semi-verité – is the first of Spheeris’s films to fully embrace what would become her characteristic documentary style: probing, intimate, uncompromising. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.Sidney & Friends
IMDB 0 | Jun , 2017
When his family tries to kill him, Sidney, who is intersex, flees to Nairobi where he meets a group of transgender friends. Together, they fight discrimination and discover life, love and self-worth.DeRosa: Life, Love & Art in Transition
IMDB 10 | Dec , 2021
Chronicles the extraordinary life of artist Felicia DeRosa, who came out as transgender at the age of 41. With her life, career, and marriage potentially at risk, Felicia embarks on a journey towards authenticity and self-acceptance.Deep Run
IMDB 4 | Jun , 2015
A young transgender Christian man in rural North Carolina and his girlfriend face significant challenges.Gay Positive
IMDB 4 | Mar , 2014
Gay Positive is the story of one man trying to bring to attention the outdated ban on gay men donating blood in the United States of America. This documentary is meant to inform and educate people on this controversial issue. A woman who recently received her nursing degree presents facts that could suggest that in order to keep our blood supply clean and abundant, we must update our current screening process for potential donors. By taking the camera to the streets, Gay Positive captures the opinions of people from many walks of life regarding how they feel about the ban today. One of the questions posed was, "If you were in need of a blood transfusion and the donor was healthy, would it concern you if this generous individual was a gay male?" Recent history proves that when tragedy strikes, donor centers are often in short supply and struggle to meet demand. The ban forces organizations such as The Red Cross to reject willing, disease-free, healthy individuals.