Panorama: Rebels #1

Shéár Avory: To Be Continued is the coming of age story of Shéár Avory (pronouns: they/them/theirs), a 17 year old trans* aspiring social justice advocate in Los Angeles who navigates housing instability and familial dependency on their journey to adulthood.
Shéár depends closely on their mother for continued access to their medical transition, though struggling in her recovery from addiction, she is unable to always offer Shéár the support they need. An observational piece, the film aims to ask, what does coming into adulthood actually look like, for a young Black trans* femme in today’s America?

Abram Cerda (director, cinematographer, producer, editor) is a queer Luiseño/Latinx filmmaker & photographer from the Inland Valley. He graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2016 & his first short film Somebody Else premiered at the 2019 Outfest Fusion Film Festival. He is a devoted father to his two siamese cats, Mokos & Eli. Abram is currently pursuing his MA in filmmaking at the Luca School of Arts in Brussels, Belgium.

Shéár Avory (producer, subject, writer) is a social justice advocate living in New York City committed to the advancement of social, economic, racial, gender, and disability justice and the empowerment of young people. Since the age of thirteen, Shéár has been a leading voice of youth activism through national participation in movements for social justice, advising initiatives and speaking on behalf of organizations such as the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the Los Angeles Mayor's office in partnership with Equality California and the Transgender Law Center, Liberty Hill Foundation, VOCAL New York, the Ali Forney Center, Baker Mackenzie, the National Association of Counsel for Children, and the Children's Rights Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association. They have been featured in various national media profiles by NBC Los Angeles, CBS, MSN, and more. Following wrongful and discriminatory imprisonment, Shéár Avory moved to Washington, D.C. to serve former Vice President Joe Biden as the 2018 Biden Fellow for LGBTQ Equality at the Biden Foundation. Following the fellowship with the Biden Foundation, Shéár Avory returned to New York City and continues to evolve their advocacy and research with the intention to shift societal disparities. In 2016 Marie-Louise’s became interested in writing her own stories. So, when she heard about a scriptwriting course lead my Anna Emma Haudal, she decided to go for it. This course gave her the tools to bring her stories to life. In the summer of 2017 Marie-Louise had finished her first manuscript The Confirmation (Danish title: Konfirmanden). She reached out to Kim Magnusson, of M&M Productions; he saw potential in her story and decided to take a chance on a first-time writer and director. The film premiered at the 2019 “Inside Out” film festival in Torrent. Since Marie-Louise’s debut on the other side of the camera, she has gone on to do several other projects; both as a director and 1st AD. And she’s currently working on a few other projects on her own.

Celebrating the end of her school years Ash is sexually assaulted by a friend. While the rest of the world basks in the hot summer sun, Ash isolates herself at home. But as the end of summer approaches, Ash reconnects with her body and takes a step towards healing.

Hannah Renton is a London-based writer and director. She studied Philosophy and Psychology and worked in public health and social care for 5 years. Her first short film Kim screened at BAFTA and Academy Award-qualifying festivals, including Underwire Festival in London and Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in Japan and has been acquired by Tall Tales. Her second short, Rise, is currently on the festival circuit, alongside Boy Meets Boy, a feature she co-wrote which premiered at BFI FLARE and is being distributed in the UK by Peccadillo Pictures. Hannah has worked as a freelance assistant producer and editor on films for the ICA, C4 and BBC4, as well as as a senior teaching fellow at UCL. She participated in the BFI Network x BAFTA Crew and Encounters Widening the Lens talent development schemes and is currently studying direction fiction at NFTS.

In an abandoned warehouse, a crowd is dancing as one on 145 BPM techno music. Among them is Dustin, a young transgender and crew: Felix, Raya and Juan. As the night draws on, collective hysteria morphs into sweet melancholy, and euphoria into yearning for tenderness.

Naïla Guiguet graduated in 2019 from the Femis’ Cinema School Scenario Department, where she made a student short film Rough Skin. During her time at the Femis, she co-wrote with Arnaud Desplechin, Catherine Corsini and Thomas Salvador. Naïla Guiguet is also a DJ and a founding member of the Collective Possession. This collective organises techno LGBTQI+ evenings. During one such evenings, she shoots Dustin, her first short film as a professional.