Above, you can see a quick cameraphone clip of the audience right after “Casting Pearls” has screened.

Today, “Casting Pearls” screened as part of a shorts program called “The Part I Was Born to Play”, featuring films that comment on trans representation and participation in media. It was the first film in the series, and was very well received. People laughed and clapped in all the right places. Everyone was amazed at Andrea’s ability to do all the different voices, too.

Later, I participated in a two hour panel discussion on trans media issues with some other filmmakers. People asked lots of insightful questions, and we talked about things like YouTube and self starting.

There was a party sponsored by London FTM next, and then a dinner with some of the filmmakers. I’ve enjoyed socializing with Kyle, a lovely festival programmer originally from Kentucky(!) who now spends time between London and the US.

Arriving in London was fairly painless. Let me just say that Air France is a dream after all the cut-rate flights I’ve had recently between various states in the US. They gave us two full meals for free, with wine and everything. Each seat had an individual video screen from which you could choose various movies, tv shows or video games. And best of all, there was no one in the seats next to me, so I got to spread out and sleep comfortably the whole flight.

In the video above, aside from being horrible quality, you lose all sense of depth, which was one of the more lovely aspects of the sight. The moors extend to a far distant horizon, where they dissolve into fog, with occasional small farms and herds of sheep. It was very lonely, yet beauiful.

My Yorkshire friends picked me up at Heathrow and whisked me away to a charming converted mill in the moors, where I spent two lovely days exploring the small town and then falling asleep to the sound of the rushing stream that had once powered the mill.

At the local pub, they had “quiz night”, wherein everyone gathers into teams and writes down their answers to 60 questions read aloud by last week’s winners. We lost, and I’m mortified to say that one of the points we missed was due to my inability to recall the capital of West Virginia. Elementary School was so long ago, sigh!

I am scheduled to appear at the London event and to participate in a forum about transgender and media. I’ll be arriving in London on April 1st and leaving April 8th.

Deep Stealth Productions’ short film “Casting Pearls” has been chosen to screen in the 22nd London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. The festival, organized by the British Film Institute (BFI), is the third largest film festival in the UK and attracts audiences of over 25,000. The LLGFF will run from 27 March – 10 April 2008.

* London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

* British Film Institute

* Casting Pearls website

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