Blue Heron
$11.50
Dir. Rosa von Praunheim
1992, Germany, 90 min
German with English subtitles
Rated 18A
The life story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived the Nazi reign as a trans woman and helped start the German gay liberation movement. Documentary with some dramatized scenes. Two actors play the young and middle aged Charlotte and she plays herself in the later years.
Plays with Gendertroublemakers
Dir. Mirha-Soleil Ross and Xanthra MacKay
1993, Canada, 20 min
Rated 18A
What happens when two Transdykes get sick of non-transsexual’s uninformed representation of their sexualities and their lives? They grab their 8 millimeter home video camera, their last 200 bucks, and come up with an uncompromising in-your-face flick about their shitty relationships with gay men and their unabashed attraction to other transsexual women.
Curated by Elizabeth Purchell, a Brooklyn-based queer film historian, programmer, filmmaker, and the creator of Ask Any Buddy.
Elizabeth has appeared on nearly forty home video releases from labels like Altered Innocence, Severin Films, and Vinegar Syndrome. She programs and hosts the monthly Queer Cinema: Lost and Found screening series at Austin Film Society and the weekly Weird Wednesday series at Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn. She also co-programs and hosts the monthly queer film series and podcast Cruising the Movies at IFC Center. She was also on the programming team for the 2024 iteration of Frameline.
Her work has been shown at over two dozen international film festivals including BFI Flare, Frameline, and Outfest, as well as at venues like Anthology Film Archives, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Hammer Museum. Her programming, filmmaking, and research work has also been covered in several publications including The New York Times, Into, and The New Yorker.
