Connection | Isolation

85 min, released 2024
Schedule a screening here

Witnessing trans lives during the COVID-19 pandemic

Connection | Isolation presents eight intimate portraits of trans and post-gender individuals navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst moments of connection and isolation, these participants reveal a deepening awareness of gender, their bodies, and trans community. Created by an all trans and queer crew, this hybrid documentary film interlaces portraits with reenactments, integrating archival material documenting what so many experienced and many still do. Connection | Isolation witnesses the profound ways that, despite physical separation, trans community-building has been centered. This documentary invites viewers to witness the strength of connection as an act of resistance, offering care in the face of crisis, and using reflection as a path toward healing.

Press.

“Connection | Isolation” Brings Community Together in COVID Times” The Evergreen Echo by Parker Dean
The beauty of Connection | Isolation comes from not only the stunning videography, but the way in which the film continuously honors and uplifts the intersectionality of identity for every speaker …. The film’s focus on diversity and individual experience paves the way for the audience to find pieces of themselves in each story, to connect with the feelings of not only distress and anxiety, but also with the feelings of self-discovery and euphoria. Link to PDF

Support

Our film is supported by the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland, Oregon (2023 and 2024), DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Northwest Documentary, Portland Events and Film Office and Robert K. Purks Fund.

All donations in support our distribution and impact campaign are tax deductible through the Center for Independent Documentary.

To reach out: http://www.g6pictures.com/contact

Our Filmmaking Team

Crew Bios

Director and Producer G.Chesler (they/them) directs and produces documentary and narrative films addressing sexuality, the body, gender and racial justice. They are a white trans genderqueer disabled filmmaker, living in Portland, Oregon. G. (aka Giovanna Chesler) is a 2023 PGA Create Fellow for their work Producing Intersex Justice by Aubree Bernier-Clarke, a feature documentary on intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis. G. also serves as Producer of Impact, Distribution, and Marketing for Outliers and Outlaws by Director Courtney Hermann about the migration of hundreds of lesbians to Eugene Oregon from the 1960s-1980s.

G.’s previous film projects include Period the End of Menstruation, a documentary feature on health trends that changed understandings of gender at large. Their film led an international conversation on menstrual suppression when it was covered on the front page of The New York Times (and became the most emailed article for two days.) G. Produced Out in the Night which premiered on PBS and LOGO networks simultaneously, and opened the United Nation’ Free+Equal Campaign combatting homophobia and transphobia worldwide. Out in the Night went on to win 15 awards internationally while sharing the story of the NJ4 - Black women and gender-conforming friends who defended themselves against a homophobic street attack but were criminalized because of their race. G.’s fiction recent short, a rom com The Pick Up, about a sullen teen taking a wrong turn home from swim practice won Best Short Film at Cineffable Paris and image+nation Montreal, and Best Screenplay (Jury Prize) at Big Muddy Film Festival.

Recently, G. served as an Advisor to filmmakers in the inaugural ITVS / NEH Humanities Fellowship in Documentary Development and are a recipient of awards from Portland Events and Film Office, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and Washington DC Arts and Humanities. G. is a Professor of Film and Women and Gender Studies at George Mason University and teaches courses on documentary, film theory, screenwriting and directing remotely. 

Eli Haan - Editor (they/them) works between music video, documentary, fiction and nonprofit projects through a framework of relational storytelling. Eli’s work as our Editor strengthens the emotional arcs and abstract expressions in each portrait. Their work of note includes the co-produced and co-edited short documentary Our Trails Too, that follows Mercy M'fon —founder of local nonprofit Wild Diversity— on their journey to reimagine the outdoor industry in Portland. If you’d like to connect with Eli, they’d welcome an email from you - elirhaanATgmailDOTcom.

The Cinematography by credit is shared by many talented trans and queer image-makers across the US including Aubree Bernier-Clarke (they/them) DP of Framing Agnes and director of Intersex Justice and A Normal Girl, Tomasz Gęza (he/they), Meagan Arnold (she/her), and LaDawn Manuel (she/her).

Aubree Bernier-Clarke (they/them) is a Cinematographer and Director based in Portland Oregon whose work consistently explores themes of gender, queerness, and social justice. As a Cinematographer, Aubree has lensed several features, series, and short films, most recently the award-winning “Framing Agnes” (dir. Chase Joynt) that premiered at Sundance 2022, winning both NEXT Innovator and NEXT Audience awards. As a director, their documentary short A Normal Girl (2019) about intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis premiered at BFI Flare in London, won the Grand Jury Award at the United Nations Association Film Festival, and screened at the American Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival. In 2022, Aubree was selected as an ITVS Humanities Documentary Development Fellow, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, to develop and Direct a feature based on their short titled Intersex Justice (G is producing their film).

Tomasz Gęza is a queer Cinematographer based in New York City, all the way from a small town in Poland. In his work, Tomasz focuses on amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, and uses our world’s natural landscapes as the central backdrop of his storytelling. He hopes to share the beauty that lies beyond the gray concrete, showing us the wonderful, twisted, diverse and magical nature of this world, and that no one is ever truly alone. https://www.gezatomasz.com/

Lazer Selvera - Associate Producer + Researcher (he/she/they) is a Latine, transgender person living in Chicago. Lazer spent most of his life in northwest Arkansas, was born in Texas, and lived in various states across the Southern US. Lazer is a graduate of the Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies concentration in Women and Gender Studies at George Mason University. Their research and focus centers on trans studies, Southern studies, and making academia accessible through the creative arts. Lazer’s recent short film, “Ones & Zeros” is a commentary on the gender limitations of video game character creation. 

Dani Taylor - Associate Producer, Researcher + Additional Editing (they/them) is a nonbinary Asian American filmmaker living in Hong Kong, who was born in China and studied filmmaking in Northern Virginia. They have drifted between various locations and cultures for their entire life. Because of Dani’s mixed cultural background, they are especially interested in the intersections between cultures and identities. Dani’s most recent work is a documentary short about their mother’s experiences marrying a white American man, and raising bi-racial, bi-national children. The film “Untitled Mom Doc” premiered at the DC Asian Pacific American film festival and screened at the DC Shorts Online Festival and Doc Youth Doc Short festival in Astoria, Queens. Dani has worked as an Assistant Editor at Modern Education Digital Media Limited in Hong Kong. They are a recent graduate of the Film and Video Studies program at George Mason University (with honors).

Kai Tillman - Production Sound Mixer (he/they) Kai’s award-winning short films include the incredible fiction film Hey Man (2022) about a queer transmasculine person who starts driving for a rideshare company to pay for top surgery and the intimate cross-border documentary Por Ellas (2012) virtually reuniting a mother in the US with her daughters in rural Mexico, amongst other shorts. Their astute field recording includes shorts and features in fiction and documentary, commercials and television. Kai is part of Outside the Frame, mentoring and training homeless and marginalized youth to be directors of their own films and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Luka Fisher - Composer (she/her) Luka Fisher is a queer woman of the trans experience. She is an artist, composer and cultural producer known for her work with queer musicians and performance artists. She holds an MFA in photo/media and integrated media from CalArts.  Her music has been featured on compilations from Delusional Records, Springstoff, Dublab, and Silber Records. She served as an associate producer and actress in Lyle Kash’s majority trans cast and crew feature film Death and Bowling. Together with Kyler O’Neal she wrote music for Invertigo Dance Company’s interdisciplinary trans performance Walk The Walk in 2023. Most recently she has been the producer and music supervisor for “The Lovers” a queer web series by Daviel Shy that explores intimacy and community during the early days of the pandemic. http://www.luka-fisher.com

Grey Copeland - Researcher + Graphic Designer (they/he) is an African American nonbinary person living in southern Virginia and attends George Mason University in northern Virginia for a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and language credit in Korean.  Grey has worked for a department at VHC Health as a Graphic Designer making presentations and advertising collateral. They produce freelance commissions in 2D Illustration and graphic design for various clients. Grey’s inspiration derives from films, science fiction books, comics, horror, and fantasy video games, like Dungeon and Dragons, storytelling by Neil Gaiman, the music of David Bowie, and films of Steven Spielberg. Grey is launching a webtoon comic called, “Hollow Hives” which will be a futuristic world where a found family of LGBTQ+ characters go through conflicts to keep their home safe from a broken society. https://cosmic-studios.carrd.co/

Emilia Quinton Colorist (she/her) Falling into film from a career as an advertising copywriter, Emilia understands the power of words and images when they come together in engaging stories. Her work has spanned a plethora of narrative short films, documentaries, commercials and photography and her films include Our Trails Too (made with Eli) and Sam’s Town. Her personal work explores the challenge of navigating complex identities and social systems. Emilia takes inspiration from her formative years living and working within the quiet beauty of the Pacific Northwest. She loves dogs and chocolate and getting the perfect shot at golden hour.

Jenstar Hacker Sound Design + Mix (she/they) Based in Portland, Oregon, Jenstar runs HACKER SOUND + MUSIC, a full post-production audio facility. Jenstar and her team work and collaborate in-person and remotely with directors, production teams and companies. From shorts to features, commercials to podcasts, Jenstar’s tools and creative vision elevate the experience of bringing new audiovisual mythologies to life. She lives for collaborations that tell stories outside of the dominant narrative and paradigm. Jenstar is a graduate of Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema (CUNY Brooklyn College) with an MFA in Media Scoring. She is a proud member of the Alliance for Women Film Composers and The Society for Composers & Lyricists and is mentored by Catherine Joy and JoAnne Harris.

Full Synopsis.
In an airborne pandemic when separation, isolation, and self-sufficiency became the punishing norm, many trans people faced the COVID-19 era differently. Connection | Isolation presents eight portraits of trans, post-gender, and genderqueer people who share their experiences of cultivating community in this pandemic. These trans community creators foreground how Asian Americans face escalating violent racism during the pandemic, how Black Americans and allies rose in opposition to white supremacist police-state violence in 2020, and the exclusion disabled people feel from a society that—despite grave and massive loss—refuses basic protections.

Between portraits, we depict elegiac reenactments performed by social actors – real people who revisit their core COVID-era memories: washing masks, wiping down groceries with disinfectant, and traveling alone to work at the hospital in an empty city. Archival moments flow into these scenes -frightening news reports, memes that made us laugh, and early podcasts sharing ‘crip wisdom’ and crowdsourcing vital health information. 

Connection | Isolation highlights how the pandemic gave some trans people more space to explore and understand their identities, community, and bodies. Participants reveal how COVID-19 and Long COVID impact trans people disproportionally. This is not a new story for a community that faces violent loss, less access to health care, greater criminalization, and whose freedoms are legislatively restricted by transphobes forcefully. But it is one that must be heard and understood. Trans and queer people have built a culture undergirded by mutual aid. This became a model for resilience and care in the pandemic for those who listened. This film follows in that legacy.