Trans in Trumpland Is a Docuseries About Trans Lives With Trans Filmmakers Behind the Camera

POPSUGAR: How did you choose the subjects for the film?
Tony Zosherafatain, director: I knew I had to find compelling characters, so after a thorough search and interview process, I chose four characters who would be in the series, along with me as the host. Jamie and I decided on the concept of me leaving NYC to meet with four trans people in some of the harshest antitrans states.
Jamie DiNicola, producer: I was like, "You know what's more interesting than just interviewing these characters? It's the fact that you, Tony, a trans guy, will be running around the most conservative parts of the country doing it." That's kind of how Tony became not only the director but another character in the series.

PS: After your successful Kickstarter campaign, you began filming. When did you shoot?
TZ: The hardest part about creating a film or series is the funding, so from there on out, we had the green light to start production. We began in early 2019 and finished just in time in December 2019, right before the pandemic began.

PS: How did you build your team of producers, directors, editors, and consultants, including Trace Lysette and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy(!)?
JD: We were working out of a tiny coffee shop in Bushwick when we interviewed our incredible director of photography, Leroy Farrell. It kind of just took off from there. Because of some earlier branded work that I had done with REI, I had strong connections with DPs, PAs, editors, etc. Once Leroy was hired, he recommended a bunch of good sound mixers, editors, and other team members.
TZ: Jamie and I knew we wanted to hire a talented team but also people who understood the social issues raised in the series. Miss Major was on board since 2017, when she was part of our concept trailer for our Kickstarter. She's such an icon and has been working for trans rights since Stonewall. Trace Lysette signed onto the series in 2020 at just the right time, since it was during the period of no production happening in Hollywood, and we could thoroughly delve into the project together. Later on, we also signed Chella Man, an amazing activist, actor, and model, who is really pushing forward trans and disability rights. They're all moving the trans community forward in so many different ways.

PS: Were any scenes particularly emotional or memorable for you to film?
TZ: The most emotional scene we filmed was in Texas, when our character Rebecca discussed the sacrifices her mom went through to get her across the border. I was sitting at the table with Rebecca and her mom, when all of a sudden Rebecca and her mom started crying, and they reached in for a hug. My DP Leroy had to keep it together to film this moment, but he ended up shedding a tear and the rest of the crew and I were all bawling behind the scenes. It's an emotional moment that appears in our Texas episode when we stream.

PS: What was the most exciting moment in recognition of your work?
JD: I think just selling our series to Topic and signing the executive producers really vindicated things for me — like, wow, we're really out here doing this as independent trans filmmakers. We're being creative together and trying to make even just a tiny difference in the world through our films.
TZ: There was also a Facebook comment we saw that really made us tear up about the devastation of the last four years on the trans community and the impact our trailer had on this commenter.

PS: How would this film have helped you when you were a younger person growing up in the LGBTQ+ community?
TZ: Growing up, I had a very different reality. I didn't see myself as a trans person anywhere. I grew up in a mixed Greek and Iranian-American family outside of Boston in the '90s, and I didn't hear the word "trans" until I was 19 in college at Wesleyan University. If I had been able to see a film like Trans in Trumpland as a young person, it would have changed my life. Especially to see a trans man directing and hosting the film and meeting up with trans people all over the country. It would have helped me see that I exist. That I'm valid. That trans people are living all over this country and around the world. That's the beauty of film — it allows you to see different realities in an instant.
JD: I didn't have ANY representation when I was a kid. I grew up in a first-generation Italian-American family; all my siblings are wonderful, but none of them are trans or queer. And I went to Catholic school, so I really had zero idea of what was going on with me. I just knew that I loved wearing "boys" clothes and that I cried when my mom told me I had to wear a dress at my Communion. If I saw stuff like this growing up, maybe I would have figured out who I was a lot earlier on. I just hope some young kid sees it and maybe doesn't feel so alone in the world, as cheesy and cliché as it sounds — isn't that the goal of art?

Ash is a young transgender boy living in rural North Carolina. Ash brings us behind the national news headlines to show us what it's really like to be a trans youth in North Carolina — a state that's notorious for its antitrans bathroom law and school policies.

In Texas, Rebecca, a trans immigrant from Mexico, battles a deeply transphobic immigration system to gain asylum in the US.

In Mississippi, Evonne is a Black trans woman who runs the state's only transgender-led nonprofit, which provides vital care to Mississippi's violently neglected LGBTQ+ community.

In Idaho, Shane is one of America's first openly transgender soldiers, who uses his Native American heritage to point us toward a brighter future.