T4TV: A Celebration of Black Trans Film

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Special Events

  • Wed Jun 18 : 

    Post-screening conversation w/ curator Lee Laa Ray Guillory & filmmakers at 7:30 p.m.

    Buy Tickets

SHOWTIMES AT IFC CENTER

Wednesday, June 18 at 7:30 p.m.: Post-screening conversation with curator Lee Laa Ray Guillory and filmmakers Sahara Sheikh, Nyala Moon, Ahlaam Delange, Mars Storm Rucker, Janine Anne Uyanga, and marlow magdalene

In partnership with IFC Center, Queer|Art is thrilled to present the return of T4TV, a screening program spotlighting short films by an international roster of Black trans filmmakers. This dynamic mix of shorts celebrates the breadth and spirit of Black trans cinematic production, spanning a broad range of genres and styles. This year’s T4TV selection is curated by Lee Laa Ray Guillory, an interdisciplinary artist and curator, and the 2021 winner of Queer|Art’s Illuminations Grant for Black Trans Women Visual Artists.

Prescreener:
Rai Terry
ENTERING THE *BEYOND, 13:45 min
Entering the *Beyond is a Black queer experimental film that weaves archival fragments, sound, and movement into a choreosonic ritual: an ecstatic archive pulsing with memory, rhythm, and resistance.

Program includes:

Sahara Sheikh: UPSTAGE (3:39)
Two dancers with contrasting styles butt heads, but when they become face to face their contention is overcome with a powerful sensation.

Lilah Benetti: LES SOMMES DE NOUS (8:06)
A contemplative audiovisual journey tracing gender non-conformity within Indigenous spiritual practices
across five African countries, Les Somme de Nous reflects on memory, lineage, and the possibilities of
selfhood beyond Western frameworks.

Nyala Moon: DILATING FOR MAXIMUM RESULTS (14:11)
For trans woman Dreya, it’s been four years since both her last relationship and her bottom surgery. So, she decides to finally invite her online boyfriend over to hook up in person. But before he arrives, Dreya must dilate for the first time since her surgery.

Ahlaam Yasmin: THE LAST GOODBYE (3:14)
After a breakup, Nic and Kitty reunite at a park to clean up loose ends. Sometimes, relationship changes aren’t for better or worse—it’s just different.

Mars Storm Rucker: ECHOES: THE B SIDE (17:31)
This experimental documentary-film ultimately examines the technology of black liberation and healing of
trauma through vintage fashion, vintage aesthetics, and the romanization of nostalgia to create
afro-futuristic utopias.

Tourmaline & Sasha Wortzel: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARSHA! (14:35 min)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARSHA! is a film about iconic transgender artist and activist, Marsha “Pay it No
Mind” Johnson, and her life in the hours before she ignited the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.

Janine Anne Uyanga: CHESTBOUND (18:17)
Following Ray’s top surgery, intimate moments with their chosen family are interrupted by the news of
their father’s stroke, but returning home to see him would mean confronting Ray’s estranged mother.

marlow magdalene: THE WORLD DOESN’T END WHEN YOU DO (10:11)
This collage film employs surgical precision to dissect six decades of California’s violent history, centering
the filmmaker’s perspective as a Black trans man. Through a layered montage of L.A. riots,
slaughterhouses, wildfires, mid-century Malibu, and 1990s newsreels, it constructs a deeply personal yet
expansive narrative. The result is a haunting vision of the West—one shaped by relentless cycles of
destruction and rebirth, refracted through a lens of race, gender, and survival.

  • Running Time 89 minutes
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.