Beyond The Binary

Join Film Fatales online for a candid conversation with visionary voices in trans and queer cinema including powerhouse filmmaker Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy, Cloud Atlas, Bound) and Fatales Forward fellows Gulet Isse (Khutbah), Hao Zhao (All Fixed Up), Helen Peña (Crossed Veins/Venas Cruzadas), Kyle Casey Chu (After What Happened at the Library), and Roberto Fatal (Electric Homies). Moderated by StormMiguel Florez (Welcome to Roswell). Hear from boundary breaking creators reshaping the cinematic landscape as they discuss their craft and the power of authentic storytelling as a tool for meaningful change.

This online discussion will be accessible with auto captions, self descriptions, and ASL upon request. Please contact events@filmfatales.org to request an accessible accommodation. See you soon!

Lilly Wachowski is a film director, writer, and producer most known for co-creating The Matrix trilogy together with her sister Lana Wachowski. The Wachowskis made their directorial debut with their lesbian noir, Bound (1996). Their other feature work includes V for Vendetta (2005, writer/producers), Speed Racer (2008), Ninja Assassin (2009, producers), Cloud Atlas (2012), and Jupiter Ascending (2015). Their last project together was the Netflix science fiction drama series Sense8, created and written with J. Michael Straczynski which won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series. In May 2019, Wachowski was a co-writer and co-showrunner for two seasons of the critically acclaimed drama-comedy series Work in Progress, created by Abby McEnany and Tim Mason for Showtime.

Fatales Forward is an innovative fellowship for emerging filmmakers working on their debut feature films about the trans experience. The program consists of a career advancement intensive, three months of one-on-one mentorship, creative peer to peer workshops, and ongoing artist development support.

Gulet Isse is a trans feminine, Somali American filmmaker and actor straight out of NOLA, baby! Their work as a performer has earned them roles on-screen in productions such as LITTLE AMERICA (2022) and CANDIS CAYNE’S SECRET GARDEN (2023), as well as developmental fellowships from The Sundance Institute, Center for Cultural Power, and Transgender Film Center. In conjunction with their work in film, Isse founded BXD Collective—a medium-agnostic community platform through which they have curated annual summer exhibitions and raised over $25,000 to develop the work of 50+ underrepresented artists to date.

Hao Zhou is an Ohio-based filmmaker originally from southwest China. Zhou’s films explore queer and feminist themes, through a range of nonfiction and narrative approaches. Their films include the no-budget feature “The Night” (Berlinale, 2014) as well as several short films: “Correct Me If I’m Wrong” (2025), “Like What Would Sorrow Look” (2024), “Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way” (2024), “Here, Hopefully” (2023), and others. Zhou’s work has been selected by the Berlinale, Locarno, Rotterdam, SXSW, and Hot Docs, with funding from ITVS, Firelight Media, IF/Then x Hulu, Frameline, and other organizations.

Helen Peña is a Dominican-American child of the Atlantic, filmmaker, and culture worker from Miami, FL. Their work has screened in festivals across the country including Prismatic Ground, New Orleans Film Festival and Third Horizon Film Festival. In 2020, Helen participated in the UCLA Sanctuary Spaces Residency, where they worked on their first short film, When Angels Speak of Love, which screened on PBS South Florida. In 2023, their short film Irresistible was selected as a finalist for the New Orleans Film Society South Pitch and The Barbara Hammer Lesbian Experimental Filmmaking Grant. In 2017, Helen co-founded (F)empower, a collective of queer feminist artist-activists. Their films and culture work have been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art, the New Museum, the Norton Museum of Art, ICA Miami and more. They are currently pursuing an MFA at California Institute of the Arts.

Kyle Casey Chu ​​is a Filmmaker, Author and a founding queen of Drag Story Hour. She is currently a 2024-2025 FilmHouse Resident at SFFILM. In 2022, far-right extremists stormed her reading in San Lorenzo, making global headlines. Based on the incident, her short screenplay, "After What Happened at the Library" won WeScreenplay, Titan Awards and SF Indie's Short Screenplay Competitions. With support from Sundance, SFFILM, Talon Entertainment, the SF Arts Commission and Skywalker Sound, the screenplay was produced and will premiere at Florida Film Festival and SF International Film Festival in April 2025. This short is a proof-of-concept for her debut narrative feature film. The script is in an advanced draft and was workshopped at Sundance’s Trans Possibilities Intensive, Lambda Literary’s Writers Retreat and Film Fatales. Kyle's debut novel, "The Queen Bees of Tybee County" (HarperCollins, 2025), was recently optioned by Lambur Productions into a UK TV show.

Roberto Fatal is a Meztize Chicana filmmaker and storyteller. They come from Rarámuri, Genízaro, and Spanish ancestry. Their Queer, gender fluid, Mestize/Mixed identity informs the sci-fi films they make. Their work centers on humans who sit at the intersections of time, space and culture. From this unique vantage point, these characters can bridge divides, see all sides, find new paths forward and recall multiple histories long forgotten. The mixed people of Fatal’s stories can connect us deeply to an undercurrent of humanity that we often overlook in a world that is increasingly divided. Survival, intersectional identity, perseverance, love, empathy, community, connection and creation are at the heart of their characters and films. Fatal is a Sundance Film Institute Native Film Lab Fellow Alum and an Imagine Native Director's Lab feature film fellow alum. Their debut feature script, ELECTRIC HOMIES, was awarded the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Screenwriting Grant and the 2025 Sundance Institute screenwriters lab fellowship. their newest short film, EN MEMORIA, was selected to screen in competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Shorts film program.

StormMiguel Florez is a trans, queer Chicane filmmaker, whose work includes the award-winning films "The Whistle" (2019, Producer/Director), "MAJOR!" (2015, Editor/Co-Producer) and "Vulveeta (2022, Co-producer, Editor, Actor). StormMiguel is currently working on his feature narrative directorial debut, "Welcome To Roswell," for which he received received a 2022 SFFILM/Rainin grant, 2021 Sundance Trans Possibilities fellowship, a Film Fatales Stowe Story Labs Fellowship, and most recently a grant from the Sundance/Gold House One House Filmmakers Fund. StormMiguel is also an event producer, actor, and a life-long musician. His first acting role was at the tender age of ten in the made for TV movie, Police Woman Centerfold. He’s originally from Albuquerque, NM, which he very much considers to be his homeland, and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 27 years. He lives with his life partner and fellow filmmaker, Annalise Ophelian, and their 2 chihuahuas.

Comprised of ANARCHISTS UNITED FOUNDATION and its wholly owned subsidiary ANARCHISTS UNITED STUDIOS, Anarchists United is dedicated to creating a holistically integrated and sustainable economic and artistic ecosystem to support ARTISTRY, DIVERSITY and EQUITY in media.

Film Fatales is a 501(c)3 arts organization and talent discovery platform which supports a membership community of over two thousand feature film and television directors of all marginalized genders. We advocate for hiring equality and inclusive programming practices by working with key decision makers to expand the talent pool, raise the visibility of underrepresented creators and build an equitable film industry for us all.

Film Fatales organizes panel discussions, educational workshops and networking mixers focused on amplifying marginalized voices in film and television. Capacity is limited. The session will be recorded for those unable to participate in the live program. Your participation constitutes your consent to being recorded and photographed during the event and to Film Fatales sharing those recordings and photos with the world. Please contact events@filmfatales.org if you require an accessible accommodation.