Riot Acts: Flaunting Gender Deviance in Music Performance

Angelo Madsen

2009 | 01:12:00 | United States | Color | Stereo | 4:3 | Video

Collection: Single Titles

Tags: Documentary, Feature Length, Gender, LGBTQ, Music

Representing the complex lives of transgender and gender variant musicians in the US and Canada, Riot Acts offers a first-hand perspective of the intersections between gender performance and stage performance. The featured performers are talented, inspiring, sexy, critical and three-dimensional in a manner that purposefully counters mainstream media. Discussions range from songwriting, performance, voice presentation and voice changes, passing/not passing, audience, to the idea of the spectacle, drag, and media representation - the personal is always political. Interviews weave 16mm film and super8 film, present-day and archival videos, to challenge what we understand as historical or legitimate, as we craft our own history.

The soundtrack is comprised of original music by the interviewees: Anderson Toone, Lipstick Conspiracy, Katastrophe and Trannysaurus Sex (San Francisco), Basic Fix (Portland), Ryder Richardson (Seattle), Tough Tough Skin and Venus Demars (Minneapolis), Adhamh Roland (St. Louis), Ryka Aoki De La Cruz (Los Angeles), Jessica Xavier (Washington, DC), The Shondes and Novice Theory (Brooklyn, NY), The Degenerettes (Baltimore), Systyr Act (Boston), The Cliks (Toronto), and Coyote Grace (Sonoma County, CA).

Pricing Information

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Prizes + Awards

Best Feature, TranScreen Film Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Best Documentary and Audience Choice Award, Reeling LGBT Film Festival, Chicago, IL

Opening Night Selection, Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Seattle, WA

Best Documentary, Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA

Audience Choice Award, Park City Film Music Festival, Park City, UT

Opening Night Selection and Best Feature, Bloomington LGBT Film Festival, Bloomington, IN

Premiere

Reeling International LGBT Film Festival
Chicago, IL

2009

Exhibitions + Festivals

Llamale H International Film Festival, Montevideo, Uruguay

Q Fest: Houston LGTB Film Festival

Bangalore Queer Film Festival, Bangalore, India

Fringe! Queer Film Festival, London, UK

Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival

Cinema Trans Sous les Etoiles, Montreal, QU, Canada

Kansai Queer Film Festival, Osaka and Kyoto, Japan

MIX Festival Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Chicago International Movies and Music Festival

London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, British Film Institute

SENE Film, Music & Arts Festival, Providence, RI

Mezipatra Czech LGBT Film Festival, Prague, Czech Republic

Boston LGBT Film Festival

International Youth Film Festival, Wales, UK

Out On Screen: Vancouver Queer Film Festival, Vancouver, Canada

Frameline International LGBT Film Festival, San Francisco, CA

Queer Lisboa Film Festival, Lisbon, Portugal

Q! Film Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia

Milwaukee LGBT Film Festival, Milwaukee, WI

Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival

Los Angeles Transgender Film Festival

Pittsburg LGBT Film Festival

Sacramento Film and Music Festival

Indianapolis GLBT Film Festival

Vinokino Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland

Fresh Meat Film Festival, San Francisco, CA

Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Hamburg LGBT Film Festival

Idapalooza Festival, Idyll Dandy Arts, Smithville, TN

MIX Mexico Film Festival