This film is supported by a 2021 Creative Capital Award
LOGLINE.
In this hybrid documentary, history comes alive when an Iranian-American transman time-travels through the LGBT archives on a dizzying quest to unravel his own sexual desires.
Desire Lines is a hybrid documentary blending candid interviews, archival materials, and narrative fiction as a framework for exploring the complicated and often unwritten history of transmasculine sexuality.
The fictional story centers on Ahmad, an Iranian expat who arrived in the US at the onset of the AIDS crisis. Now in his 60s, concealing his trans identity for decades has meant distancing himself from intimacy. Ahmad comes to the LGBTQ archives to explore his latent homosexuality and engage in fantasy to reimagine his life as an out, gay trans man. He is assisted by Kieran, a twenty-something nonbinary archivist who is immersed in queer culture and trans community. Though they come from radically different cultures, their bond is strengthened by a shared fascination with Lou Sullivan, a gay transgender AIDS activist.
The film pivots between fantasy, fiction, and fact using the letters and interviews of Lou Sullivan as the historical core. Interspersed throughout are interviews with a diverse group of transmen across the US, candidly discussing the evolution of their desires and illuminating their struggles with gender (non)conformity, fetishization, transphobia, safer sex, and sexual racism.
FOR FULL INFORMATION ON THE FILM VISIT THE DESIRE LINES FILM WEBSITE
PRESS.
“At Sundance, a Transcendent Roadtrip and Other Reasons to Love Movies,” New York Times
”Sundance Review / Desire Lines: A Transformational Journey,” Cinema Daily
”I operate from a Trans Lens, or Frame, as Though it is the Only Choice Available: Jules Rosskam on Desire Lines,” Filmmaker Magazine
”How Desire Lines Imagine Trans Loves and Lives Anew,” POV Magazine
”An Intersectional Exploration of Transmasculinity and Identity Makes Desire Lines a True Standout,” Cinema Femme
Jules Rosskam Encourages Transgender Men to Be Open About Their Sexuality in ‘Desire Lines,’ Variety
Jules Rosskam’s Desire Lines Awarded a 2021 Creative Capital Award, UMBC Magazine