a feature documentary investigating the struggles of trans and gender-diverse persons, and an independent exploration into sexual orientation and identity. (In Development)
On 19th November 2022, Rich Fierro was at a table in Club Q with his wife, daughter and friends on a Saturday evening out, watching a drag show, when the sudden flash of gunfire ripped across the nightclub and instincts forged during four combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan instantly kicked in.
Amongst many, Rich will tell his story and we hope you will join us in supporting our journey so as to make this film.
A FilmsForAFuture and Queer Works Production.
Producers: Andi Reiss, Jacob Rostovsky and Kris Sorbie.
At least 32 transgender and gender-nonconforming people were killed in the United States in 2022, the Human Rights Campaign announced, ahead of the Transgender Day of Remembrance on 20th November. The announcement came just three days before the mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs.
An estimated 1.6 million people in the United States, thirteen years of age and older identify as transgender and yet, startlingly existing hate crime law does not cover sexual orientation or gender identity in thirteen states, and there is no hate crime law in four.
- 54 % of LGBTQ+ population lives in states that have hate crime laws covering sexual orientation and gender identity
- 23 % of LGBTQ+ population lives in states that have hate crime laws covering sexual orientation
- 2 % of LGBTQ+ population lives in states which explicitly interpret existing hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and/or gender identity
- 17 % of LGBTQ+ population lives in states with laws that do not cover sexual orientation or gender identity
- 4 % of LGBTQ+ population lives in states with no hate crime laws
Transgender people face extraordinary levels of physical and sexual violence, whether on the streets, at school or work, at home, or at the hands of government officials. More than one in four trans people has faced a bias-driven assault, and rates are higher for trans women and trans people of color.
2022 saw unprecedented amounts of negative rhetoric and stigma was aimed by anti-equality political leaders and public figures against transgender and non binary people, as well as their families, loved ones and even their medical providers.
Tragically, the number of fatalities is likely an undercount because the deaths of trans people often go unreported or the victims are misgendered in news or police reports.
Moreover, the data does not encompass those who died by suicide, which has also been documented at significantly higher rates among LGBTQ people than in the general population.
The Human Rights Campaign report also found that 15 trans people have been killed by police or while incarcerated in jails, prisons or ICE detention centers since 2013, including two in 2022.
As the United States continues to grapple with racial injustice, bias in the criminal justice system, and rising hate violence against too many communities, it is critical that we re-examine our responses to hate crimes. Additional solutions are needed to address hate violence, including a careful review of how hate crimes laws in their current and potential forms fit into the work of building safe communities for everyone.
Rising visibility, unprecedented advocacy, and changing public opinion are working to provide transgender people greater legal protections than ever before. However, at the same time there remains much to be addressed and whilst this documentary is by no means a national non-discrimination campaign it is an important expose which aims to explore why so many transgender people, particularly transgender women and transgender people of color, still face enormous barriers to their safety, health and well-being.
“I never say ‘trans but,’ always ‘trans and.’ Because it’s like, no, I don’t hide who I am. People know exactly who I am here.”
Danica Roem, journalist and politician
Producers Andi Reiss and Kris Sorbie are originally from London, but moved to Palm Springs in California in May of 2022. Jacob Rostovsky founded Queer Works, a 510c(3) in the Coachella Valley in 2018.
Previous documentaries have screened at many international events including Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, South By Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, Raindance Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, New York IFF, Telluride Film Festival, Taormina Film Festival and Queens World Film Festival. They are hoping that this latest project will be a first for the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Download our March ’23 Deck here;-
For more information about who is involved in this important, independent documentary or indeed should you like to discuss your involvement and /or investment, please contact us using the form below. Thank you.
ANDI REISS 