About Pride (Gay Pride Month)
The Portland Film Festival's Indie Film Series is proud to present two films highlighting LGBTQ+ stories: Brothers, a short narrative that follows a group of transmen, and feature film Our Dad, Danielle, the story of a transwoman's life after coming out at age 57.
About the films:
Short: Brothers • Director: Emmett Lundberg
Just another day in the life of a transman. Trevor and Len are getting into their groove, but with Trevor on hormones for egg harvesting, things are not as easy as they seem. A visit to the gynecologist makes Trevor question what he wants and who he wants it with. Jack is "going through some shit," while trying to figure out his own sexuality. Max tries to make amends with Elsa.
Feature film: Our Dad, Danielle • Director: S.E. King
Danielle Joy "DJ" Healey was terrified of being her true self for 57 years, fearing she would lose her wife, two daughters, and prestigious law career. She almost died trying to shield those she loved from her reality. For over half of her life Danielle had privilege and power on the outside while suffering tremendously on the inside. The traditional nuclear-family dream in idyllic Sugar Land, Texas was forever changed once she revealed in 2017 to her Facebook community the secret she'd kept for decades: Danielle is trans.
How would this transition affect her 30-year marriage, daughters, and career in the vortex of Texas conservatism? We follow the journey of Danielle, filled with both good and bad choices and courageous moves. From penning a novel allegorical to her closeted trans experience to bankrolling and screenwriting a Hollywood movie to serving as the top IP advisor for some of the biggest brands in the world, Danielle's closeted misadventures are so rich at times they feel like fiction.
As the political landscape evolves and Danielle's world expands, she integrates into the LGBTQIA+ community becoming a late-in-life activist and meeting remarkable people including a young, Honduran trans woman seeking asylum, who fled her country due to horrific violence; a trans minister who didn't come out until she was 66; and Ana Andrea Molina, the founder of Organizacion Latina de Trans en Texas, an LGBTQIA+ safe house in Texas.
Now, these remarkable women are on a path to fight for trans rights while embracing the beauty and joy that comes from living authentically.
