The Aggressives

In Conversation

  • Jenni Olson is a Berkeley-based queer film historian, writer, and filmmaker who is the proud proprietor of Butch.org, which features more information about all of her work as a longtime champion of LGBTQ+ cinema.

  • Fresh “Lev” White is a love and compassion activist. He offers mindfulness, mediation, and diversity trainings as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious, and passionate living. He teaches and writes about how unconditional love and self-compassion are the ultimate gateways to honoring and understanding others; thus, healing our communities and our planet.

Shot over the course of 1997–2004, this documentary is an incredible snapshot of a vibrant array of butches, studs, and masc folks of color from the New York City ballroom and nightlife scene who are claiming their own space and identity. The film offers profiles of six “Aggressives” or “AGs,” including trans actor and activist Marquise Vilsón, who pass as male through a wide range of masculine identities. By turning the camera on them as they speak about their lives, it becomes clear where language fails to fully capture each individual’s lived experience and nuanced gender identity.

FILM DETAILS 
Cinematographer
  • Daniel Peddle
  • Jeanny Tsai
Print Info
  • Color
  • DCP
  • 72 mins
Source
  • Breaking Glass Pictures
Permission
  • Paramount Pictures

Event Accessibility

If you have any questions about accessibility or require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact us at bampfa@berkeley.edu or call us at (510) 642-1412 (during open hours) with as much advance notice as possible. More information on accessibility services.