"This encouraging book is a fitting tribute to the artists who are raising awareness of the realities of transgender lives. . . . An important resource for highlighting transgender visibility."
“Horak makes insightful interventions in each of her chapters, and I highly recommend reading the whole book to sit with the thought-provoking questions and ideas she offers us about each topic.”
“Whether you want a book that gives you an impeccably researched set of recommendations to add to your watchlist, to understand the complex ways in which trans filmmakers navigate the representability of gender, or to figure out how to cope with the frustration and terror of the current climate, Horak’s book is for you.”
"Trans Cinema is a revelatory act of reclamation. Laura Horak doesn't just illuminate a vital body of overlooked films—she shows how trans filmmakers have been reshaping the possibilities of cinema all along. Grounded in historical context and formal insight, this book is as expansive as it is incisive, offering new ways to think about image-making, identity, and artistic authorship. A bold and eloquent contribution to film studies and trans cultural history alike."—Isabel Sandoval, filmmaker, Lingua Franca
"This unprecedented, eye-opening study of films by trans people reveals a rich and relatively unknown history of media-making. It's a welcome addition to the burgeoning scholarly field of transgender cinema studies."—Susan Stryker, codirector, Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria
"The history of trans cinema is rich, and Horak does a beautiful job of bringing it to life. Film critics can no longer declare trans cinema to be new, and professors can no longer get away with assigning the same two or three trans films. Nearly any reader will find something to learn in this thorough book by an exceptionally knowledgeable author."—Jed Samer, author, Lesbian Potentiality and Feminist Media in the 1970s
"Given the increasing pressure on trans people to disappear out of public life entirely, this crucial book redefines trans cinema and helps build toward much-needed understanding, compassion, and resistance to trans erasure. Horak asks why, even when we are discussing trans people, we continue to use frameworks that decenter their cultural contexts and contributions. Productively presenting a wealth of fresh resources and new approaches, this visionary book offers a cross-disciplinary and historically grounded picture of what 'trans cinema' is and what it can do. This is work that meets and exceeds our moment."—Cáel M. Keegan, author, Lana and Lilly Wachowski
"With the poise of a mature film scholar and the voice of a friend you'd enjoy going to the movies with, Horak draws you into understanding how trans cinema engenders trans world-making and possibility-modeling. Offering a wealth of bibliographic information for scholars of all levels and an encyclopedic knowledge of media for large and small screens, the book is eminently teachable. The examples of careful reading by an allied cis scholar are a treasured resource, making it a perfect companion to the Transgender Media Portal. It achieves what I have long waited for: a thorough application of trans studies to the core business of film history and analysis."—Eliza Steinbock, author, Shimmering Images: Trans Cinema, Embodiment, and the Aesthetics of Change
"Trans Cinema offers the first comprehensive coverage of the history and burgeoning corpus of work by trans filmmakers, inclusively defined, through an aesthetic as well as a political lens—and, crucially, facilitates access for the viewers who most need to see these works. Developed in conjunction with the author's team of trans researchers for the invaluable Transgender Media Portal, this lucidly written and ethically researched book sharply engages themes emerging from hundreds of works. Horak's expertise as a historian of gender-nonconforming representation informs analyses of work from the last three decades, from rom-coms to YouTube transition videos, and offers extensive coverage of Indigenous and experimental media."—Patricia White, author, Women's Cinema, World Cinema: Projecting Contemporary Feminisms
"This book reminds us that trans cinema creates and asserts aesthetic and political tactics needed to unlock horizons of possibility both on- and off-screen. It is not a guide to a canon or a field, but rather an urgent conversation about trans cinema as a tool for collective liberation."—Chase Joynt, filmmaker, Framing Agnes
"What an extraordinary resource, showing the richness and insight in decades of trans-made media across the US and Canada. Bringing to light an incredible range of features, documentaries, experimental films, and animated films, Horak shows us that trans makers have engaged in fundamental world-making projects that complicate and challenge dominant media."—Shelley Stamp, author, Lois Weber in Early Hollywood
"I've long dreamed about a book just like this one. A must-read."—Sam Feder, filmmaker, Disclosure
