Bijli
Dec 24, 2003 | IMDB 0
15 min Watch NowDocumentary
Consider Manhattan a sprawling Hollywood set. Amongst the swarms of people that crowd the streets like extras, Fayaaz Bijli is another face relegated to the background of our visual spectrum. Come sundown, however, and the inconspicuous Fayaaz morphs into the iconic personae of ‘Bijli,’ a voluptuous Pakistani drags queen. Yet beneath the flamboyant stage presence lies a courageous individual who has carved out a unique and cherished identity for herself in a world that has been all too quick to label her as an ‘outsider’. Defining herself as a woman stuck in a man’s body, Fayaaz has spent her life struggling between the polar tensions of male/female, East/West and Islamic faith/promiscuity. This film is a glimpse into Fayaaz’s psyche as she navigates her way through a New York City life.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Gavin Grimm vs.
Kelet
Tailor
Just Another Beautiful Family
Disclosure
Hold on Tight
Auntie
Kumu Hina
A Small Part of Me
From This Day Forward
This is an Address
Paris Is Burning
TransMilitary
Girl or Boy, My Sex Is Not My Gender
Red Without Blue
Transgender Parents
Untold: Caitlyn Jenner
I Don't Know
Transhood
Gay Positive
SIMILAR MOVIES
Gavin Grimm vs.
IMDB 5 | Sep , 2017
In 2016, transgender teen Gavin Grimm sued his local school board after its members refused to let him use the bathroom of his choice. He was ready to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court—and then the election happened.Kelet
IMDB 4.8 | Jan , 2020
Kelet is a twentysomething black trans woman, whose greatest dream is to be on the cover of Vogue magazine. For the Finnish-born and Manchester-raised Kelet, such models as Naomi Campbell and Iman served as role models giving her strength – and during the darkest times, kept her alive. After coming out, then 19-year-old Kelet was cut off from her family and she moved back to Finland on her own.Tailor
IMDB 10 | Jun , 2017
Tailor is a transgender cartoonist that shares in his web page other trans people’s experiences and their challenges in society. Film about transgender, made by transgender crew.Just Another Beautiful Family
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2019
Just an ordinary suburban family- except that Dad's transgender, Mom's queer, and there are five kids in this minivan. This is one family’s true story of identity, trust, and transformation. Too many transgender kids wonder: Will I be loved? Will I get to have a family? Will it all be ok? Here's the answer: a love story about family, finding your true self, and becoming who you really are.Disclosure
IMDB 7.8 | Jun , 2020
An investigation of how Hollywood's fabled stories have deeply influenced how Americans feel about transgender people, and how transgender people have been taught to feel about themselves.Hold on Tight
IMDB 3.8 | Jul , 2011
A short documentary exploring the ways LGBT couples show affection, and how small interactions like holding hands in public can carry, not only huge personal significance, but also the power to create social change.Auntie
IMDB 4 | Feb , 2014
After the death of his parents, a gay man comes back to his village to live in his small world of happiness, dreams, sadness and loneliness.Kumu Hina
IMDB 6.1 | Jun , 2014
A transgender Native Hawaiian teacher inspires a young girl to fulfill her destiny of leading the school's male hula troupe, even as she struggles to find love and a committed relationship in her own life.A Small Part of Me
IMDB 0 | Aug , 2017
Tobin, a transgender teen living in Squamish, BC, prepares for his acting debut where he’ll be playing a male leading character in the youth play. While rehearsals are in progress, his friends and chosen family band together to help remove him from a difficult living situation and connect him the support he needs.From This Day Forward
IMDB 7.8 | Apr , 2015
When director Sharon Shattuck's father came out as transgender, Sharon was in the awkward throes of middle school. As the Shattucks reunite to plan Sharon's wedding, she seeks a deeper understanding of how her parents' marriage, and their family, survived intact.This is an Address
IMDB 0 | Oct , 2020
Stonewall veterans (including prominent trans activist Sylvia Rivera) and HIV-positive New Yorkers take up residency on the Hudson River piers as cranes raze vacant buildings for a new skyline.Paris Is Burning
IMDB 8 | Mar , 1991
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.TransMilitary
IMDB 4.8 | Mar , 2018
At a time when transgender people are banned from serving in the U.S. military, four of the thousands of transgender troops risking discharge fight to attain the freedom they so fiercely protect.Girl or Boy, My Sex Is Not My Gender
IMDB 6.7 | Mar , 2016
Being born a woman, feeling like a man & deciding to cross the boundary between the genders. That’s the path taken by those known as trans-boys. In San Francisco, Paris & Barcelona, a four-way portrait of Lynnee, Kaleb, Rocco & Miguel, four individuals who embody & explore the fluidity of gender.Red Without Blue
IMDB 5.3 | Jan , 2007
The intimate bond between two identical twins is challenged when one decides to transition from male to female; this is the story of their evolving relationship, and the resurrection of their family from a darker past.Transgender Parents
IMDB 6.2 | Aug , 2014
Transgender Parents takes the conversation about parenting and transsexuality to the next level: Some parents transitioned in the presence of their kids and some who transitioned prior to founding families - being out as trans and as parents, in ways that weren't possible 20 years ago. Transgender Parents centers the importance of access to building and continuing parent-child relationship in the presence of a gender transition. It is a tender look at the art of parenting, testimony to some of the hardest relational work in this life.Untold: Caitlyn Jenner
IMDB 6.5 | Aug , 2021
Caitlyn Jenner's unlikely path to Olympic glory was inspirational. But her more challenging road to embracing her true self proved even more meaningful.I Don't Know
IMDB 3.3 | Nov , 1971
A truly major work, I Don’t Know observes the relationship between a lesbian and a transgender person who prefers to be identified somewhere in between male and female, in an expression of personal ambiguity suggested by the film’s title. This nonfiction film – an unusual, partly staged work of semi-verité – is the first of Spheeris’s films to fully embrace what would become her characteristic documentary style: probing, intimate, uncompromising. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.Transhood
IMDB 5.2 | May , 2020
Filmed over five years in Kansas City, this documentary follows four transgender kids – beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 – as they redefine “coming of age.” These kids and their families show us the intimate realities of how gender is re-shaping the family next door in a unique and unprecedented chronicle of growing up transgender in the heartland.Gay Positive
IMDB 4 | Mar , 2014
Gay Positive is the story of one man trying to bring to attention the outdated ban on gay men donating blood in the United States of America. This documentary is meant to inform and educate people on this controversial issue. A woman who recently received her nursing degree presents facts that could suggest that in order to keep our blood supply clean and abundant, we must update our current screening process for potential donors. By taking the camera to the streets, Gay Positive captures the opinions of people from many walks of life regarding how they feel about the ban today. One of the questions posed was, "If you were in need of a blood transfusion and the donor was healthy, would it concern you if this generous individual was a gay male?" Recent history proves that when tragedy strikes, donor centers are often in short supply and struggle to meet demand. The ban forces organizations such as The Red Cross to reject willing, disease-free, healthy individuals.