I’m so excited that I get to continue this nice trend I’ve got going on celebrating trans art!! This time, we’re looking at the American south. For today’s issue of Good Queer News, I am absolutely delighted to bring you an interview with Joie Lou Shakur, the founder and executive director of Comfrey Films.
In just a few short weeks (From April 30-May 2), Comfrey Films will be hosting their second annual Black Trans Short Film Festival in Durham, North Carolina, to uplift the stories of Black transgender, gender nonconforming, and intersex artists shaping our cultural landscape through films. The event aims to show future generations that — despite the growing hostility and dismantling of civil and human rights — the trans community has always existed, stunningly, and with great courage.
Learn more about the festival, and the options to attend and support online, here!
Also, this month Comfrey films is trying to raise $30,000 to support Black Trans art!! Since I absolutely loved the time I spent with Joie Lou, and I think Black Trans artists are some of the most brilliant people of all to lead us out of this mess, I am going to be donating 50% of all new subscriber revenue this month to Comfrey Films!! If you’d rather donate directly, send me a message afterwards and I will give you a complimentary upgrade to a paid subscription!
I actually held this interview a few weeks ago, and some of the things Joie Lou shared with me have been bouncing around my brain non-stop since. I can’t wait to share that with you all! Let’s dive in.
The Film Festival!
Ben: Let’s jump right in to the festival. Give me the pitch! What is Comfrey Films all about?
Joie Lou: Our festival is very specific to black trans directors, producers, writers. We don’t just want to see ourselves in front of the camera. We want the decision making power to determine what the story is.
We need something that can build capacity for the work of individual black trans people to the emotional labor that they have to do. And, yeah, we need additional resources to be able to have the power to tell our own stories.
Ben: Something I really love that I’m hearing about this story is that there’s this energy to learn more. When this started you weren’t a filmmaker, and then you realized where the need was and what you loved doing. And you were like, great. I’m gonna figure out how to be good at this because I love it and because it needs doing.
Joie Lou: Yeah. As a person that was, outside of my dignity, I was so not a confident person. I didn’t understand my own power. And this practice of filmmaking really brought me into that. And then it also sort of feeds itself. Right? My film can help someone else understand their own power.
Ben: That’s so amazing. Tell me a little more about who should be attending this festival? Why?
Joie Lou: So most people are unclear what to do in this time and how to survive this political moment. This political moment is something that black trans people are especially practiced in.
Ben: This is not new for everyone.
Joie Lou: Exactly. This festival is a space to come, learn from, connect with, be with people who are experienced in this political moment. It’s going to be so much inspiration, so much power, so much experience and wisdom shared in community meal conversations and screenings and networking sessions.
A lot of people might think: “how can you focus on art right now in a time like this?” And the truth is art is how we get through times like this. There’s a lot of wisdom that black trans folks have to share in that regard. So just come and experience. Just come with your arms wide open and let your cup be filled.
You know? Let your spirit be inspired. Find love in all the forms because it will be at this festival.
Ben: Oh, love. Love. Incredible. Amazing. And I can tell your your demeanor is so joyful. You are so lit up by this. You are so excited about this festival, which I’m just... I love to see this energy. Tell me more about the filmmakers for this year! What kind of talent do you have going on here?
Joie Lou: The filmmakers coming out are fantastic. We have an excellent slate of films with a mix of genres. We have our documentaries. We have our experimental girlies. We have our thriller horror, maybe a little bit of gore.
We have a little bit of romance, a little bit of sexiness. The possibilities are endless. The slate of films, both from our film screener, and also our directors in residence. There’s lots and lots of topics that’ll be touched on from grief to how to survive as a trans person in prison.
There’s a podcast that is coming out during the festival called sixty seconds remaining by one of our past directors in residences, talking specifically to black trans women in North Carolina’s men’s prisons. Getting their actual voices and reflections, and there’s a whole universe.
Building Something Bigger
Ben: What has surprised you most about how the festival’s grown since you started it?
Joie Lou: The first iteration of the festival was three years ago, and it wasn’t a festival. It was a black trans short film competition. And in response to that, folks were like, what would be dope would be if the filmmakers could have all been there in person and met each other and get together to fuse minds and all of that.
And I realized what this could grow into. Folks can train each other in different elements. Film is a whole universe. After I had my initial vision for the full festival, what really surprised me was the people who said yes. I remember Brian Brian Michael Smith was one of the first people that said yes to coming and being in person at the festival. And I was just like, woah.
You can really learn from having mentorship and true connections with industry professionals, whereas industry professionals can really get re-inspired and reinvigorated by emerging filmmakers. And those are both such valuable insights to be shared. It also surprises me every year that there are new films. It can be a very expensive art form. It’s a long art.
Each year that we’ve put out a call for submissions, I’m like, “y’all, I don’t know if anybody’s gonna submit.” And there’s a brand new slate of films that grows each year. And so it just points to how much of a yearning is there within the community. And, also, I think folks are getting the opportunity to connect with each other, which is connecting folks to new financial opportunities to be able to fund their stuff and then also new crew.
The festival is sort of that gift that keeps on giving just in terms of connection. You’re able to really connect with people in such a cool way. We have formal events, folks get dressed up or whatever, but the connections are so homey. They’re so informal.
Ben: Yeah. It’s that cycle of empowerment that we were talking about earlier that you have this idea, and people are like, I wanna work on that with you. I wanna watch it. I wanna sound design. Like, let me get in on that.
Joie Lou: Yeah. You know, it’s real connections. This year a really exciting expansion is we’re launching our Level Up Lab, which is gonna be an acting workshop led by Brian Michael Smith for emerging actors. The training itself will prepare you for industry auditions, for self tapes, for all of that you need to know about being an actor in the industry or in independent filmmaking.
I am 100% sure that the folks who participate in this session will have people’s films that are in the room, which will later be submitted to the festival the following year or the years following to then be screened. And then they might be coming in as director. There’s the pipeline.
Ben: And how amazing is that, to be so deeply defying this idea that it’s just horrible and brief to be alive as a trans person, And yes, it’s scary, but also look at the vibrance and resilience of this community to exist and to be planning out the festival three years from now. Somebody’s saying “is this the end of trans people right now?” and you’re out here actually investing in our future as a community.
Joie Lou: Yes. Yes. That’s why I am very invested in building infrastructure. You know? Building something that will outlast erasure.
Ben: Outlasting erasure. Hell fucking yeah, dude.
For Those at the Start
Ben: What would you say to somebody who’s right at the beginning? Credits are rolling, they have watched their first short film, and they’re having that moment of like, wow. I didn’t know art could do that. What if what if I did something like that? What would you tell that person who’s in that moment?
Joie Lou: Feel inspired by something, do it. You know? It’s not gonna be perfect. It’s not gonna be great. But you have to start from somewhere. I feel like even for my personal life, the things that bring me the most joy are the things that I had to be brave enough to claim.
But, really, don’t underestimate that time and the power of just messing around with stuff by yourself to figure out what it is about something that inspires you. You might start on a path of feeling really empowered by this short film about dance. And you might think, oh, okay. I’m really into short films, but maybe it’s actually dance.
Just have a lot of grace for yourself, and don’t be afraid to just start with what you have. You can only grow from there.
Ben: You can only grow from there!!!! Exactly!! Joie Lou, this has been a treat. Any closing words to the good people of Good Queer News?
Joie Lou: In the words of Ms. Major, we’re still fucking here. We have always been here, and we have found each other. We have found new ways to find each other. And, okay, they’re muddying some of those ways, but we will reemerge. There’s nothing that you can do to obliterate transness from existence. They’ve tried time and time again, and we’re still here.
Thanks!!
That’s all I’ve got for you today!
Here are a few great links from the team at Comfrey:
Join us at the next Black Trans Short Film Festival! There’s a virtual option for the festival here if folks can’t attend in person.
Check out Chemistry: The Trans Dating Show! Like, comment, and subscribe to the channel to support its growth.
Stay connected via our Newsletter! If you are interested in creating or consuming media alongside or by Black trans people, we share opportunities all year long!
And again, I’ll be donating half of new subscriber revenue this month to Comfrey to help them hit their goal of $30,000 of donations in April! Trans rights advocacy isn’t all court battles and immediate survival, it also means investing in trans futures.
If you donate directly, I’ll upgrade you for free to a paid subscription! Honor system here. Just message me and I’ll get you set up as soon as I can :)
All my love until next time, Ben <3
Thank you for telling me about something awesome happening in my own backyard! We’ll definitely check it out!