The swash of the Trans New Wave

Tristan Taormino heralded ‘The New Wave of Trans Cinema’ in a 2008 column, highlighting the emergence of ‘docu-porn’ created by, for, and about trans men, and categorising them as films that ‘break down seemingly finite categories, create new iconography, and redefine sexual images and stories’. In the years since, the ‘Trans New Wave’ has come to be defined and expanded by filmmakers, trans film festivals, and the newly emergent field of trans cinema studies. Eliza Steinbock describes the ‘Trans New Wave’ or ‘New Trans Cinema’ as ‘build[ing] on feminist, postcolonial, and queer film criticism to assert significant groupings of films, contemporary directors, and types of spectatorship.’ This canonizing works to ‘reclaim territory’ and ‘stake out new territory’ for trans cinema, generating conversation about what trans cinema is and what it might become. Over the past decade, in the swash of the Trans New Wave’s breaking, key developments in trans cinema have included the increased ‘transliteracy’ of audiences; canonizing efforts by film programmers, scholars, and audiences; an expanded definition of ‘trans cinema’ beyond trans narratives; and regular vocal critiques of mainstream representations and cisgender actors cast in trans* roles.