Connection | Isolation

feature documentary in post-production
85 minutes, releasing June 2024
fiscal sponsor: Center for Independent Documentary

a film and act of witnessing what has been lost, gained, and revealed to trans people in the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an airborne pandemic when separation, isolation, and self-sufficiency became the punishing norm, many trans people faced the COVID-19 era differently. G. Chesler’s new documentary feature presents eight portraits of trans, postgender, and genderqueer people sharing their experiences of cultivating, sustaining, and joining communities in this pandemic. Interlacing documentary portraits are reenactments with real folks reliving common COVID memories. Amidst moments of connection and isolation, these participants and actors reveal a deepening awareness of gender, the body, community, and ourselves during this pandemic.

G. Chesler’s film Connection | Isolation highlights how COVID-19 and Long COVID have impacted trans people disproportionately. This is not a new story for a community that faces violent loss, less access to health care, criminalization, and whose freedoms are legislatively restricted by transphobes forcefully. But it is one that must be heard and understood. Participants include trans community cultivators who center experiences of Asian American people facing violent racism as the pandemic began in late 2019, Black Americans rising in opposition to white supremacist police-state violence in mid 2020, and the exclusion many people who are disabled feel from a society that—despite grave and massive loss—still refuses to habitually protect itself at large.

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. The pandemic gave some trans people more space to explore and understand their identities, desired community, and bodies. Connection | Isolation gives space to reflect awareness-building that developed during more limited social interactions for trans people.

May this film be a conduit for that history.

May it also foster space and reflection by trans, genderqueer, nonbinary, and queer viewers of their own experiences in this time.

G. directs and produces this film primarily for other queer and trans people. Our film crew includes trans and queer artists across the US (and in Hong Kong!) Their approach echoes G.’s documentary feature “Period: The End of Menstruation,” which wove a similar portrait based tapestry. G.’s 28 year career of filmmaking around themes of the body, gender, health, and racial justice informs their choices in making this documentary through a practice centering consent, sustainability, and health.

**this film was formerly titled dysConnect

Support

Our film is supported by the Regional Arts and Culture Council of Portland, Oregon, the Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Northwest Documentary, and the Robert K. Purks Fund through the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University. We thank the generous supporters who have donated through our ongoing crowdfunding campaign through the Center for Independent Documentary.

We still require funds at this critical stage for post-production. Tax deductible donations will pay composing, sound editing and mixing, and color correction. Our fiscal sponsor processes these donations on their website: https://www.documentaries.org/films/trans-covid-documentary/

All donors will be thanked in the film’s credits (unless you specify otherwise.) Please reach out if you wish to provide a more significant gift, donation of services, or ask questions about the film: 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) 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 Producing 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 and is distributed by New Day Films. G.’s most recent fiction film is their short rom com The Pick Up about a sullen teen taking a wrong turn home from swim practice screened far and wide, that won Best Short Film at Cineffable Paris and image+nation Montreal, Best Screenplay (Jury Prize) at Big Muddy Film Festival, and streams online through distributor Gonella Productions.

This year G. served as an Advisor to filmmakers in the inaugural ITVS / NEH Humanities Fellowship in Documentary Development and are a recipient of a Regional Arts and Culture Council grant for Connection | Isolation. They teach documentary production, fiction screenwriting, and directing remotely at George Mason University. 

Eli Haan - Editor (they/them) Eli works between music video, documentary, fiction and commercial projects, Their work as our Editor strengthens the emotional arcs and abstract expressions in each portrait. Eli’s work of note includes the co-directed and co-edited short documentary Our Trails Too, that follows Mercy Shammah—founder of local nonprofit Wild Diversity—on her journey to reimagine Oregon's outdoor adventure community. This film centers Mercy's experience as a queer African American woman who is challenging the stereotype of an outdoorist while living in one of the whitest cities in the USA. Her journey towards creating an inclusive outdoors is one of sacrifice that requires endurance as well as audacity. Luckily, Mercy is undeniably—and unyieldingly—driven to thrive.

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 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.