Shorts: 101 Butterflies + Baby Girl + Xiaodi (Q&A)

A programme of three short films that explore contemporary trans identities. Produced in three different countries, these works are stylistically diverse, spanning documentary and fiction, and focus on vastly different subject matter. But at the heart of each film lies a preoccupation with agency – an impulse to depict people who refuse to settle for the status quo, and resolve to shape their own futures. Each film selected here focuses on a trans person of a different age, and investigates themes of conflict and allyship between different generations.

The programme is followed by an online Q&A with Xiaodi directors Junmi Chen, Guo Gao.

Progamme

101 Butterflies

It took one hundred queer years for Lola Perla to finally be recognized by a government that never really took notice of the likes of her. Receiving an envelope containing 100,000 Philippine Pesos, Lola confronts her long-standing personal covenant: to bail an ex-lover’s son out of jail.

Dir Norvin de los Santos | Philippines | 2020 | 18 min

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Baby Girl

Cunenk grew up as a girl trapped in a boy’s body, and could not wait to leave her village and become a trans performer. She is respected within her community, but once in a while, steps back into her male clothes in order to fundraise for the local maternity hospital.

Dirs Rofie Nur Fauzie, Mohamad Sulaeman | Indonesia | 2020 | 14 min

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XiaoDi

On the 17th birthday of transgender girl Huang Xiaodi, the whole family gathered to celebrate her birthday. After dinner, her parents asked her to get in the car, so that they could take her to buy a birthday present. However, what awaited her was not a shop, but an institution on Gele Mountain in Chongqing. Xiaodi’s parents believed that sending her there would help convert Xiaodi, and turn her into a ‘normal’ boy. But in the face of violence and humiliation, Xiaodi hardened her resolve, and waited for a chance to escape. This gripping, uncomfortable documentary features interviews with Xiaodi, who recounts first-hand her traumatic experiences, as well as her mother, who discusses her motivations and changing perspective on questions of gender.

Dirs Junmi Chen, Guo Gao | China | 2021 | 45 min