THE BRANDON TEENA STORY previously at Film Forum in New York City

ENDED

Premiered at Film Forum in September 1998!

The True Story "BOYS DON'T CRY" Is Based On.

Written and Directed by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir
USA, 1998
90 minutes
English
Bless Bless Productions/Zeitgeist Films Ltd

"Probing, powerful."
- David Stratton, Variety

"Riveting...a gender-bending tragedy in the Midwest."
-Tom Samiljan, Time Out New York

Excerpted from the press kit:
When 20 year old Brandon Teena arrived in rural Falls City, Nebraska, in 1993, his handsome good looks and boyish charm won him several friends in town and even a pretty young girlfriend. But only three weeks later, on Christmas Eve, Brandon was brutally raped and beaten by two of his friends, who became enraged when they discovered that he was actually a woman. A week later, on New Year's Eve, the same two men murdered Brandon, along with a young mother and another man with whom he had sought refuge miles away.

THE BRANDON TEENA STORY In focusing on the last few weeks of Brandon's life, the film tells the tale of Brandon's coming of age, his struggle with identity and how how his gender ambiguity induced feelings of betrayal, confusion, and hostility among the residents of an isolated American township still attempting to understand what happened during his fateful final days.

Excerpted from a review in David Straton in Variety:
The background to a triple homicide committed on New Year's Eve 1993 in a small Nebraska town is explored in depth in this probing, powerful...study of the banality of evil based on deep-seated prejudices.

Film is composed mostly of interviews with people who knew Brandon. These include his mother and sister, the girl he dated in Falls City, her mother and the two convicted killers. Also incorporated into the drama are recordings of court proceedings and an interview with a deputy sheriff, plus TV news coverage of the events.

Brandon's story is that of a gentle character whose sexuality makes him a target of redneck intolerance and violence in a peaceful but conservative middle American community. The tragic events are potently described via the various witnesses, and filmmakers Muska and Olafsdottir have done a fine job of exploring a terrible tragedy that might have easily been avoided.

Coming to Film Forum on February 21, 2001 - SOUTHERN COMFORT, the of Robert & Lola. Robert was born female and Lola was born male. Transgendered, they fall in love.

RETURN TO THE SAPPH-O-RAMA FILM SERIES

NY LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL

For more lesbian & gay film events, check out the 12th annual New Festival June 1 - 11.
Call (212) 254-7228 ext 10 for schedule & venue information, or visit their website at www.newfestival.org
(website will be up soon).

Related Sites:

Violence Against Women, Gender Bias Sites, Etc.:

Selections from Amazon.com:

Transgender Nation
by Gordene Olga MacKenzie

Transgender Warriors: Making History
from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman
by Leslie Feinberg

Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue
by Leslie Feinberg

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