Transcending the rigidity and oppressions of the current moment, these films locate, build, and inhabit speculative worlds that offer new ways of being – in the present and the future. Just as queer lives subvert normative expectations of behavior, identity, and expression, these directors expand the boundaries of nonfiction forms to present new ways of seeing the queer experience lived out loud.

How to Carry Water

The boundless beauty of bodies in water through the lens of Shoog McDaniel — a fat, queer, and disabled photographer working in Florida's vast network of freshwater springs. Bringing Shoog’s photography to life, the film immerses audiences in a world of fat beauty and liberation, one in which marginalized bodies — including bodies of water — are sacred.

The Script

Blending personal interviews with dramatized genre recreations, The Script explores the troubled relationship between trans communities and medical providers in healthcare settings. With a playful approach toward experimentation, the film offers a vision of how physicians and trans patients can meet one another on equal footing.

MnM

MnM is an exuberant portrait of chosen sisters Mermaid and Milan, two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community. Celebrating their joy, siblinghood, and unapologetic personas, the film explores the power and beauty of being nonbinary in a community that prizes gender ‘realness.’

The Callers

The Callers combines intimate documentary testimony with imagined creative scenes to tell the anonymous stories of those who have called England's oldest LGBTQ+ phone helpline since it opened in 1974. Callers seek guidance on everything from where to find the nearest leather bar to how to come out, navigate an open relationship, impress a new lover or mend a broken heart. Together with the listening volunteers who answer the phones, they imagine the outcome they dream of.