Overview
We all deserve the opportunity to tell our own stories. The Transgender Media Portal gathers, researches and shares film and media stories by trans+ creators and communities – promoting stories that have rarely received the attention or acclaim they deserve.
Too often people think that trans+ people have hardly made any films. In fact, trans+ people have created thousands of films spanning various genres such as horror, comedy, romance, documentary, animation, drama, and more. They’re just hard to find. That’s where the Transgender Media Portal comes in!
The Transgender Media Portal (TMP) is a free online database like IMDb, but exclusively focused on highlighting the work of trans+* creators.
Jump into the Portal to explore thousands of trans-made films, television shows, and online videos!
You can search for media created by specific types of artists, like “comedy films by trans Indigenous artists,” or “music videos by Black transfeminine artists.” While we don’t host the films ourselves, we provide links to where you can watch them, whether it’s online, through streaming services, on DVD, or in an archive. Our primary focus is on artists from Turtle Island (North America). We are particularly enthusiastic about showcasing the works of Black, Indigenous, POC (people of color), intersex, and Deaf and Disabled filmmakers.
The Transgender Media Portal is an ongoing project developed by a dedicated team of student scholars, artists, designers, and developers at the Transgender Media Lab at Carleton University, which is situated on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nations, known as Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We are guided by an Advisory Board and we are also partners with the Data+Humanities Lab at University of Ottawa.
The Background
Around one in 300 Canadians identify as transgender or nonbinary, according to the 2021 census. Despite their presence in Canadian society, openly trans people have long been excluded from creative industries and have often not had the opportunity to tell their own stories. Stories by non-trans creatives about trans people have too often been sensationalizing and cliché, with a focus on the details of medical transition and accounts of feeling like one is “in the wrong body.” Telling one’s own story and having decision-making authority over stories about one’s community is a crucial human right and essential to the creation of a just and multicultural society.
The Goals of the Transgender Media Portal are to:
- Make trans-made films more available to educators, festival programmers, the public, and trans filmmakers and organizers; and
- To enable new kinds of research questions about trans filmmaking in Canada and the United States, tracing how trans-made cinema has changed over time and has developed differently in different places.
Please see our website for more about the TMP’s values and policies and ways to support Trans+ and Two Spirit filmmakers.
The Rollout
Your donation will support the operations of Transgender Media Portal by funding expenses such as student researcher salaries; student researcher travel for research and conference presentations; community events; and lab training on topics including anti-oppression facilitation, conflict resolution, accessibility, and digital safety.
The Impact
Ultimately, our goal is to build a more trans-inclusive media culture in Canada, propelling the country’s leadership in this rapidly evolving field. Your generous support can help fight trans invisibility and promote trans filmmaking!