This film is supported by a 2021 Creative Capital Award

This film is supported by a 2021 Creative Capital Award

synopsis

Desire Lines is a hybrid documentary blending candid interviews, archival materials, and narrative fiction as a framework for exploring the complicated and often unwritten history of transmasculine sexuality. 

The fictional story centers on Ahmad, an Iranian expat who arrived in the US at the onset of the AIDS crisis. Now in his 60s, concealing his trans identity for decades has meant distancing himself from intimacy. Ahmad comes to the LGBTQ archives to explore his latent homosexuality and engage in fantasy to reimagine his life as an out, gay trans man. He is assisted by Kieran, a twenty-something nonbinary archivist who is immersed in queer culture and trans community. Though they come from radically  different cultures, their bond is strengthened by a shared fascination with Lou Sullivan, a gay transgender AIDS activist.

The film pivots between fantasy, fiction, and fact using the letters and interviews of Lou Sullivan as the historical core. Interspersed throughout are interviews with a diverse group of transmen across the US, candidly discussing the evolution of their desires and illuminating their struggles with gender (non)conformity, fetishization, transphobia, safer sex, and sexual racism.

Watch

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For screenings at home you can stream the film on various platforms: Gathr, Fandango at Home, Apple TV, YouTube, and Google Play.

SELECTED SCREENINGS.

PAST
Sundance Film Festival — World Premiere
Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival — International Premiere
BFI Flare Film Festival
Wicked Queer: Boston LGBT Film Festival
Cleveland International Film Festival
Milwaukee International Film Festival
Maryland Film Festival
TIGLFF Transgender Film Festival
tilde: Melbourne Trans & Gender Diverse Film Festival
Puerto Rico Queer Film Festival
InsideOut Toronto LGBTQ Film Festival
New Orleans Film Society
Guadalajara International Film Festival
Provincetown International Film Festival
Milwaukee Illuminate Film Festival
Cinetopia International Film Festival
Frameline LGBTQ Film Festival
Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
Out on Screen: Vancouver Queer Film and Video Festival
Oslo/Fusion International Film Festival
QueerFilmFest Rostock
Queer Lisboa
Chicago International Film Festival
Melbourne Queer Film Festival
image+nation: Montreal International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival