Article: Mobsters, Models & Mockumentaries: A Look Back at TITE

As the lights go down and the credits roll, TITE has just wrapped their debut edition — but the stories told on screen are far from over. This April, contributor and filmmaker Mick Jordan got his tickets for TRANS IMAGE/TRANS EXPERIENCE, a festival where nothing is off-limits. This is Ireland’s first festival of trans and non-binary cinema, and was held from 25-27 April 2025 at the Light House Cinema. He shares his experience below.

One of the great things about going to film festivals is the sense of community that they bring about. Be it for a week or just a couple of days, you feel you are part of a group of people with a common interest — even if you never actually interact with the other film-goers. Almost everyone is there for the same reason as you are; you see the same faces at different screenings or hurrying from one cinema to another. In a specialist festival, this sense of community is very much to the fore — and particularly so in an event like TITE.

The Importance of Being an Ally

Speaking as a straight white cis male, I do feel I have found myself well represented in every single film I’ve ever seen in my whole entire life so far. It is nice, now and then, however, for me to venture outside my comfort zone and into a world not catering exclusively to people like me. This particular festival arrives at a time when the transgender community really needs to know they are supported — given that their rights are currently under very real attack. It is very sad too — and not a little sickening — that the socials for TITE had to issue warnings about a far-right protest that was happening in Dublin on the Saturday of their programme. Isn’t it a lot sickening that a group of people wishing to attend a festival — one that is a rare celebration of their lives and of themselves — have to be forewarned that there are people who might wish them harm on their way? This is particularly ironic because an event like TITE is all about inclusivity. This festival includes and welcomes me too — of course it does.

TITE is an occasion designed to allow trans people to see themselves on the screen as they see themselves in the real world. As festival director James Hudson pointed out in a recent Film Ireland interview, so many films can be very basic in their approach: “Here is a trans person, here’s how they live.” For trans people, that’s not that interesting — because we know how trans people live, because we’re trans! TITE showcases films with stories that — while they are about transgender characters — do not make gender identity the plot.

The opening night film Ponyboi perfectly illustrated that approach. River Gallo (who also wrote the screenplay) plays the title character — an intersex man working the night shift at a laundromat. The laundromat is owned by Vinny (Dylan O’Brien), who is also a drug dealer and a pimp. Ponyboi works for him in both these capacities as well — which has fatal consequences one night for the brother of a mob boss. Ponyboi is forced to go on the run. He decides to head back to his hometown, hoping to reconcile with his dying father, and is helped on his journey by a kindly cowboy he meets along the way. This film is a combination of a road movie, an action pic and a dealing-with-the-past story — and works expertly in all three. It is fun, entertaining and gripping throughout. The audience at the sold-out screening certainly loved it. There were regular bursts of recognition laughter and quite a few cheers — not least when a very bad man is shot by a very good woman.

A Top Comedy

The next film I got to see was Tops, a spoof documentary written and co-directed (with Jos Bitelli) by Ames Pennington, who also plays the lead. Ames is a documentary maker who sets out to interview four people and ask them the question: “What TOP did you wanna wear after TOP surgery?” The screening was introduced via a video message by Pennington, who was delighted to have their film as part of such a “wonderful new festival”. They went on to explain that prior to having their own surgery, they bought a specific T-shirt to wear immediately afterwards — but then decided it made them look “too much like my Dad.” They then showed the top to prove the point, adding that it was now on sale “on eBay and Vinted — or if anyone wants to DM me after the show”.

The film itself reflected this self-deprecating spirit and was deeply funny. Some of the interviewees are reluctant to take part and are put off all the more by Ames being very full-on in their approach — offering to keep in touch after the filming, “like friends and stuff”. The last interviewee, Oskar (Oskar Marchock), is just the opposite — very welcoming and delighted to talk about the whole experience. This immediately freaks out Ames, who is convinced that there is an ulterior motive here and that they are going to end up “chopped up and packed into a suitcase!”

It is all very humourous and cleverly satirises reality TV — but in the midst of all the chaos, there are some subtle and poignant points made. Oskar tells of how, after his surgery, he found himself constantly staring at himself in mirrors whenever he passed one. He then realised that this was because he was finally seeing himself — he could look at his reflection and no longer see anything wrong in what he was looking at.

Closing night

The closing film of the festival was Stress Positions, directed by and starring Theda Hammel, who also co-wrote the script (with Faheem Ali). This is very much an ensemble piece, with a very varied array of characters. Set during the COVID lockdown, the story centres around Larry (played by John Early), who is living in his ex-husband’s apartment. Following an accident, he is looking after his nephew Bahlul (Qaher Harhash), a Moroccan male model. Bahlul was injured when he was hit by a speeding ambulance. Larry is absolutely paranoid about infection — insisting anyone who comes within sight of him wear a mask while he constantly sprays them with disinfectant. When word gets out that he has an attractive young model holed up in his home, he is suddenly inundated with visitors from his circle — including his ex-husband and his new fiancé!

This is (obviously) an all-out comic farce that — luckily — happens to be very funny. Hammel herself is priceless as Karla, the trans woman who insists she can bond with Bahlul through their shared Middle Eastern heritage. (She claims to have Greek ancestry — way back.) She is quite dismissive of the fact that Morocco isn’t actually in the Middle East, and there is a razor sharp and quite dark set-piece where she, Bahlul and Larry discuss various countries and which specific regimes are likely “to throw us off a roof.” There is a lot of confusion about where particular countries are and who they border — someone even gets to ask what an Oman is.

And the Winner is…

Stress Positions was preceded by an awards ceremony, with awards in both Irish and International categories*. The audience award for Best Feature went to Dog Movie — and apparently did so “by quite a margin”, which I can well believe given the audience reaction to the win on the night. The director (Henry Hanson) and star (Milo Talwani) were there “all the way from Chicago” to receive the award, and Hanson gave the perfect thanks to close the event: “Thanks so much to TITE — this is an incredible festival and I really can’t wait to see it blossom and continue to thrive.”

After a weekend of eight feature films, 40 shorts, a workshop and a number of filmmaker Q&As, TITE is off to a great start. I really enjoyed the festival, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and I really enjoyed the films — and most certainly, I will be coming back next year.

… And we’ll see you there, Mick! Check out the full list of award winners on TITE’s Instagram here.