When the Reeling International Film Festival first began in 1981, it was nothing more than a small collection of films presented at the Chicago Filmmakers’ 90-seat screening room. Since then, it has grown to become one of the longest running lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) film festivals in the world, second only to the Frameline International Film Festival in San Francisco.

Now in its 30th year, Reeling continues to highlight positive and diverse representations of gender and sexuality in LGBTQ cinema, not only from within Chicago and the United States, but also the rest of the world.

Running from Nov. 3 through 12, Reeling 2011 will showcase over 130 features, featurettes and short films from 21 different countries. This year’s list includes four films directly relevant to Latinos and Latin Americans: “Photos of Angie,” “Round Trip,” “My Last Round” and “Rosa Morena.”

Photos of Angie
Language: English
“Photos of Angie” tells the story of Angie Zapata, a trans Latina teenager from Greeley, Colo., that was brutally murdered in 2008. This documentary stands out as it addresses the critical issue of negative media representations of trans women and its detrimental effect on securing justice for them.

Created with the full support of Angie Zapata’s family, director Alan Domínguez masterfully unfolds the series of the events that lead up to Angie’s tragic death and closely follows the trial that proceeds. “Photos of Angie” demonstrates how a young, fearless woman is quickly painted by the defense as deceitful because she did not reveal to her attacker that she was trans. In blaming the victim, the defense argues that it’s this “lie” that is to blame for Angie’s violent attack and subsequent death, a narrative that is then repeated in mainstream media reporting on her death and murder trial.