Documentaries in Maribor, 2nd - 7th November 2007

hi-res photo
USA, 2005

Dokumentary film

Written and directed by:
Shani Heckman

Cinematography:
Jessica Dorfman

Editing:
Shani Heckman

Sound:
Cari Campbell

Producer:
Shani Heckman

Production:
Shanestar Productions

Format:
DVD

Running time:
8'

Public restrooms historically have been a place of discrimination and harassment. Access to public restrooms has long been a civil rights issue. For lots of people, including those who define as gender-queer, transgender, transsexual, and androgynous, public restroom access is a daily struggle, as the presence of gender-neutral restrooms rarely exists. In my research for this project, more than 90% of responses noted fear before going into gender-assigned restroom spaces. Using humor, interviews with local celebrities Lynn Breedlove, Melissa Lawton, and Bryan Burgess, and reenactments of bathroom harassment, Wrong Bathroom, is a slick documentary that shows how bathrooms have long been a place of exclusion.

Festivals and Awards (Selection):
2007 Miami LGBT Festvial
2007 Kultur Feminist Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
2007 Tel-Aviv Israel
2006 Image-Out Montreal, Canada
2006 Bernal Outdoor Cinema, San Francisco—WINNER, Best of Bernal
2006 Mix Festival, Brazil
2006 Transgender Day of Remembrance, Adelaide, Australia
2006 LGBT Festival Spokane, Washington
2006 Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival
2006 Transgender Day of Remembrance, USC, Los Angeles
2006 Transitions, Seattle’s Transgender Film Festival
2006 Her Way Film Festival by Altar Magazine, Pioneer Theatre NYC
2006 Outfest Los Angeles
2006 Frameline, SF’s International LGBT Film Festival
2006 San Francisco International Women’s Film Festival—WINNER, Best Local Voice
2006 Zeitgeist International Film Fest
2006 1 in 10 Film Festival, Penn State University
2006 Blowin’ Up A Spot, Austin Texas’ Women’s Film Fest
2005 Hot Topic, National Queer Arts Festival
2005 El Rio Club, SF Benefit Screening
2005 University of Chico, Intro to Feminist Theory
2005 University of California Davis, Feminist Film Festival
2005 Daly City High School
2005 OUTrageous Santa Barbara's LGBT Festival
2005 Trannyfest San Francisco
2005 Detroit Docs
2005 Cal State San Luis Obispo
2005 Straight Outta GRRLVILLE, SF Women's Ctr.

Shani Heckman
She has worked on numerous film projects as gaffer, camera assistant and editor and designed and taught DIY Hands-On Video Workshops. In addition to her background in film, Heckman, is an independent publicist for emerging and national queer artists. She has an award in Film Production from City College San Francisco, a B.A. in Global Economics from UC-Santa Cruz and an affinity for budgets. Her film, “Wrong Bathroom”, a short documentary about restroom access, which received the Queer Cultural Center's Creating Queer Community Grant and funds from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for its completion, is currently touring the International festival circuit.

Filmography:
2005 Wrong Bathroom
2003 Another Day

Director's statement:
It is unfortunate sometimes that the film is often isolated into trans-specific screenings because I actually made the film for, and with, non-trans people in mind. Moreover, my film also points out that restroom exclusion is not just a queer issue; single parents, too, must find safe spaces to take their young children, especially single parent men.