IX Side by Side LGBT Film Festival, Saint Petersburg, 2016 IX Side by Side LGBT Film Festival, 2016 | Page 7

TRANSGENDER PEOPLE
IN POP CULTURE
AND THE MEDIA
In recent years, the media have written extensively
about sibling filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski,
actress Laverne Cox, sports star and TV personality
Caitlyn Jenner. What do they have in common?
They made the bold step to be themselves.
They went through gender reassignment surgery
and told the whole world about it. Their comings,
out greatly increased the focus on transgenderism
and transgender people in the Russian and foreign
press. The lively discussion has given rise to many
projects exploring the representation of transgender
people on screen, from online serials and TV shows
to big-budget Hollywood films.
How can international know-how help transgender
people in Russia? How effective are international
projects amid the country’s current realities? When
will the first Russian transgender star finally appear?
We will be talking about these and many other
questions with trans* activists from Russia
and other countries.
EASTERN EUROPEAN
WAVE
LGBT cinema is booming in Eastern Europe. Side
by Side features three films from Poland, Croatia
and the Czech Republic. These films have very
different central characters, but a common basis:
escape from the aftermath of the totalitarian
system, a renewed interest in individual identity
and negotiating the legacy of the past.