Festival and Family

Trans Stellar Film Festival was first conceived of in 2016 as a community-based non-profit that would provide exhibition opportunities for queer filmmakers. There are many film festivals for queer films, but few based around queer filmmakers themselves.

We are a tax exempt non-profit in the State of Michigan. We are also a member of the Springmatter Network.

Our mission

Trans Stellar Film Festival encourages diversity and queer agency in art by promoting the exhibition of films created by queer people. We seek films by queer filmmakers with a variety of content and form and provide a platform for their exhibition to the public and industry professionals.
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Our vision

TSFF envisions a world where queer artists are integrated into the film industry with equal, fair representation and a voice proportionate to our place in society.

Our values

Accessibility

For us, accessibility means meeting people where they are. We endeavor to make our events and organization accessible to all members of the community, as well as the public.

Diversity

We reach out to marginalized communities and work to ensure that we have a diverse staff and volunteer base. We prioritize and welcome diversity in our organization.

Community

Within our local community, we encourage inclusion and promote important community events, businesses, and artists. As we grow as an organization, we will host community events.

Agency

We strive to retain queer agency by ensuring that the filmmakers keep complete creative control over their projects and by not dictating the form or content of the films submitted to us. Films shown at Trans Stellar may of course have queer content, but it is not a requirement.

Inclusion

We aim to keep a truly inclusive organization that actively prioritzes marginalized sections of our community. Because we value inclusion, we ask that submitted films do not marginalize any part of the community; discussion of issues is fine, but films that seek to police or marginalize others’ identities will be rejected.