Why The Oscars Are Wrong About Emilia Pérez (And What You Should Actually Watch)

The polarizer although either way The industry’s favorite, “Emilia Pérez”, won 13 Oscar nominations, thus establishing the record for the greatest number of appointments for an international film. The French musical police film in Spanish, written and directed by Jacques Audiard, is also tied with “as much takes the wind”, “The Lord of the Rings: The Community of the Ring”, “Forrest Gump” and “Oppenheimer” . For the second largest number of Oscar nominations of all time. /Jeremy Mathai of the film described the film “Swing and missed”, and with a 32 % audience score on Rotten tomatoesHe is certainly not the only one to think that the film was a huge puff.

Suppose you are someone who loves the film. In this case, I am not here to say to anyone what is what we think of a work of art. But given the legitimate criticisms which have been addressed to the film both with regard to Its trans representation And its representation of Mexican cultureIt is extremely disappointing to realize how many voters of the Academy are completely disconnected and clearly vote for the appearance of the performative progress of what “Emilia Pérez” is. symbolizeRather than letting the communities represented in the film take the lead and determine whether this portrait deserves or not to be celebrated.

“Emilia Pérez” won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and received numerous praise of criticism, but the overwhelming majority was written by Cisgenres criticism. The more the trans and queer criticism saw the film, the more the problems became obvious. Glazing Even described the film “deeply retrograde portrait of a trans woman”, a feeling that I share. But those who like the film continue to greet him as a “progress”, noting that the appointment of Karla Sofia Gascón for the best actress is a historic first for transgender actors around the world (despite the fact that she has been able to hear queer and trans criticism). Those who did not like his film were “stupid”). But which can dictate what “progress” looks like: well -intentioned people who are desperately trying to prove that they are not transphobic by exaggerating a regressive mess, or the real LGBTQIA+ community which has opposed it since now … Clip “from the penis to Vaginaaaaa” started to go around social networks?

Quite honestly, I no longer want to lose words to speak of “Emilia Pérez”, because none of my complaints in an article will change the appointments. Instead, I’m going to shout the incredible list of trans movies released in 2024 and which deserve your time.

Even if “I SAW The TV Glow” was not the first feature of Jane Schoenbrun, they really arrived with their second feature film on two friends named Owen and Maddy whose obsession for a television program entitled “The Pink Opaque “opens a supernatural world that reflects theirs. , breaking Owen’s perception of reality and identity. He was praised not only as one of the best horror films of the year, but also as one of the best films of the year, point. If the academy really sought to highlight a trans film this year, why not an obsessive and poetic examination of the “Egg Crack” experience really written and carried out by a trans person? “I SAW The TV Glow” was such a monumental success in transgender cinema that his message “there is still time” has inspired many people to finally accept the truth about themselves. and become transgender. We cannot say that “Emilia Pérez” had the same impact.

And although it is doubtful that “Carnage for Christmas” by Alice Maio Mackay is one day in the conversation of the Oscars, the Australian transgender filmmaker Fifth feature film (all finished before she is 20 years old) is a low -budget vacation horror film which currently benefits from a 89% on rotten tomatoes. It is a podcaste of real crimes and Transwoman named Lola, who faces the avenging ghost of an infamous murderer in his hometown during his first vacation visit since her fugue and her transition. Mackay’s films have been the darlings of fans on the Streaming Shudder application for years, and it is a promising young talent that continues to improve with each new feature. “Carnage for Christmas” is his best film to date, but that will only be true until the release of his next film.

The Record Standard for “Emilia Pérez” as an international release was also hailed for the “revolutionary” subject of the film. However, not only a transgender musical in Spanish language already exists (“20 centimeters” from 2005), but it is not the only non-American trans film released in 2024. “Crossing” by Levan Akin was criminally underestimated , although he won the price. Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival and the Guadalajara International Film Festival. History is focused on a retired teacher looking for her niece that has long been missing, who finds herself in Istanbul where she meets a lawyer named Evrim who fights for the rights of transgender. It currently has a 97% on rotten tomatoesCritics renting its representation of trans and life in Istanbul.

2024 also scored the first feature film of the activist and artist of Drag Amrou al-Kadhi with “Layla”, the story of an artist of non-binary Anglo-Palestinian drag in difficulty who hides his vulnerabilities and his desperate desire ‘Love and approval behind the confidence of his dragging the character. It is certainly a bit uneven from a narrative point of view, but the main performances of Bilal Hasna in the role of Layla and Louis Gwatorex in the role of Max are so captivating that it really does not matter. “Layla” is also not afraid of immersing themselves in inter -community conflicts, which most LGBTQIA+ general public films will avoid for fear that this will provide ammunition to the worst people on the planet.

The independent cinema circuit houses the majority of films on or made by creatives from marginalized communities, and it was full of killers’ projects telling trans stories in 2024. In particular, the superhero satire of Vera Drew “The People’s Joker “Played on closed counters. Theaters across the country while she took her twisted dismantling of the business comedy (and treated intellectual property like sacred cows) on tour, with an audience filled with people made up of clown.

And then there is the transgressive radiance of “castration movie anthology i. Traps” by Louise Weard, a film that absolutely has zero interest By calling on a stifling CIS audience or playing the game of the respectability policy, and the result is a raw epic extending over four and a half hours. The story follows a trans worn worker called Michaela “traps” Sinclair, who is looking for an orchidectomy in an alley between seeing customers and spending time with her friends. The film also presents Vera Drew and Alice Maio Mackay in support roles, and we like to see trans filmmakers help other trans filmmakers to give life to their vision!

“Stress Positions” by Theda Hammel could be the only comedy on the COVVI-19 in the quarantine period that is not embarrassing: a fascinating room on people essentially trapped in a place, featuring a character played by John Early Who doesn’t want to have anything to do with others. people but is stuck with them due to safety rules. The sense of Hammel’s humor is so sharp and his performance so perfect that when another character asks him: “But you always knew that you were a woman?” She can answer with: “No, nobody feels that. I wanted to commit suicide and it helped me, in a way”, and the public wants to scream with laughter instead of calling someone for a good control be.

The first feature film by photographer Luke Gilford, “National Anthem”, was also painfully underestimated, the story of a building worker who joins a community of queer artists in the American southwest. Eve Lindley dazzles absolutely in the role of Sky, and the image of her carrying the American flag and shredded Daisy Dukes on horseback with her hair in the wind pleads for one of the best images of all the films in 2024.

Trans stories have never failed in the documentary space, but 2024 was a record year for them. The most famous is “Will & Harper”, the documentary on Will Ferrell and the actor Harper Steele traveling across the country to ensure the safety of Harper as it revisits the diving spots in the red states, while the two men Learn what their relationship might look like. Before. “Will & Harper” is a perfect trans film for a Cisgenre audience and a touching look at friendship through the objective of one of the most famous faces in America.

Internationally, there was also “Reas”, a hybrid documentary in which former prisoners of Buenos Aires reconstitute their lives and their stories through flashy musical numbers. Some of the former prisoners are trans and other CIS, but all are windows of resilience, hope and unlimited possibilities of imagination, even in the most difficult circumstances.

But for my money, “the doc trans” of the year was “Chasing Chasing Amy” by Savgers after -sales service; Partly a trip of self -discovery, partly a lesson in the history of cinema and partly an examination of the way films have the power to change us fundamentally. The romantic comedy of the 90s of Kevin Smith, “Chasing Amy”, was first greeted as a revolutionary for his frank representation of homosexuality, but has since been criticized as “badly aged” and even *hayle * problematic, But that did not prevent him from being one of the most striking films in Rodgers’ childhood. SAV is also the founder and executive director of the Transgender Film Center, with “Chasing Chasing Amy” as the first feature film.

All this to say that the nominations to the Oscars are nice, but they do not necessarily reflect quality or importance. Please do not let these other trans transventable films get lost in time in favor of a film which has been massively rejected by the communities which he claims to represent.