America in Transition: New Doc Series Explores Trans Lives
20 Mar 2019.  -

Photos courtesy of Revry. America in Transition Trailer:

“I’ve interviewed trans folks across the country who express parallel stories of being told trans didn’t fit with other aspects of our personhood. How can you be trans and Muslim or black or Mexican or southern? We found ways to reconcile the seemingly disparate parts of who we are.“ - André Pérez, Director, America In Transition

The award-winning, Sundance-backed America in Transition premieres on March 31, Trans Day of Visibility. The film is directed by André Pérez, a Puerto Rican transgender filmmaker, educator, and community organizer who founded the Transgender Oral History Project in 2008.

Intelligent, thoughtful and illuminating, America in Transition takes viewers on an extraordinary journey into the lives of people whose hope outweighs the insurmountable oppression they face from community, religion, friends and family. As heartbreaking as it is empowering, America in Transition highlights the exclusion trans people face, including the social structures that make coming out as trans or gender non-conforming dangerously courageous.  

In a recent interview with MGT, André discusses how the film grew from its original concept into a decade long creation process resulting in one of the most original shows about trans lives.

Where were you and what were you doing when you first had the idea for America In Transition?
I started the Trans Oral History Project a decade ago, and I’ve been hooked on recording trans stories every since. When Laverne Cox was on the cover of Time magazine, the news heralded the “transgender tipping point.” I knew that the tipping point hadn’t reached my grandma in South Carolina or my tia in San Juan. I thought, wouldn’t it be incredible to connect with trans people across the country and share stories from our perspectives in a way that only people from the community can?

As a queer filmmaker, what do you know now that you wish someone had told you when you started out?
I am part of the story whether I like it or not. From the beginning, I was really looking to uplift the stories and experiences of other people in my community, and I saw myself as taking a back seat. In the process, I have had so many incredible experiences of being invited into spaces like Sundance, Brit Doc’s Queer Social Impact Producer Cohort, and more. When I’m in a space like that, I now see it as my responsibility to my community to work through my imposter syndrome, to take up space, and to be unapologetically trans.

Episode One tells the story of Nina and their search for safety which leads them to the Mojave desert. How did you first meet Nina and what was the most challenging part of shooting in the desert?
I met Nina at an LGBT activist conference shortly after she and her partner founded the Trans Lifeline. They looked more like punk rockers than an executive team. I was drawn in by their unsurpassable passion, willingness to sacrifice, and uncontainable energy. I got to know them better while we working together to grow the Trans Lifeline, and realized they may be two of the most dynamic people I’ve ever met. I only wish I had asked to film them earlier!

Shooting in the desert was extremely challenging. You have no control over the light, sand is terrible for your gear, and the wind destroys the sound quality of the mics. I knew going into it that we had no electricity to charge any of the equipment, and no guarantee that there would be a place for a crew to even sleep. I get the most visceral and raw material when I spend as much time as possible in close quarters with people while filming them, so I decided to film it by myself. I was toggling all of the equipment challenges on my own while sleeping in a shipping container. It was a wild week but also one of the most fun.

Over the filming of the four episodes, is there anything new you learned about trans experiences and/or the cultural climate surrounding trans people?
I learn new things everyday. I wasn’t well versed in HIV criminalization before I began. I was shocked to learn that so many states have laws on the books that directly contradict scientific evidence about HIV transmission, not to mention the impact of modern medical advancements like PREP and common sense factors influencing people’s behaviour such as being a survivor of sexual assault. As a whole, I really was struck by how trans people are seen as a threat even though we are the vulnerable ones. Tiommi was assaulted but was afraid of being charged for not disclosing her HIV status. Nina was out giving up everything she had to save trans lives yet somehow the government needed to police her movements. We are in a terrifying time for civil rights not only as trans people but also as people of color and any protected class. I just got a much deeper understanding of how, as extreme minorities, our rights to access our most basic needs are being framed as threatening to white, cis, Christian people who hold so much power in society.