LGBTQ film series screening Fred Martinez story

On Feb. 11, the University of Toronto’s Sexual & Gender Diversity Office, as part of an LGBTQ Film Series, will be showing the film Two Spirits, written and directed by Lydia Nibley.

The 65-minute film features a generous and loving member of the Navajo/Diné community named Fred Martinez who was nádleehí, a male-bodied person with a feminine nature, a special gift, according to his ancient Navajo culture. Martinez was the victim of a hate crime at the age of 16, becoming one of the youngest hate-crime victims in modern history when he was brutally murdered.

His story is interwoven with the story of his mother who works to come to terms with her loss. Interviews with Two Spirit contemporaries are used to illuminate the role played by nádleehí, Two Spirit, and other “non-binary gender identities” in many Indigenous North American cultures.  See the film trailer athttp://twospirits.org/

The LGBTQ Film Series is a monthly educational film series sponsored by the U of T Libraries, the Sexual & Gender Diversity Office and a rotating group of student organizations and university departments. This month’s screening is co-presented by First Nations House. The series showcases films within the U of T Libraries’ collections, focusing on the lives of LGBTQ people in Canada and internationally.

The evening will also include the five-minute short film titled Dance to Miss Chief, written, directed and produced by Kent Monkman. It is “a playful critique of German fascination with North American ‘Indian’ that is guaranteed to make you want to get up and shake your booty.”  It remixes contemporary and vintage footage which celebrates Miss Chief Eagle Testickle’s on-screen romance with leading man, Winnetou, a fictitious ‘Indian’ from Karl May’s German Westerns.

The screenings will be held in the Media Commons Theatre, Robarts Library, 3rd floor, at 130 St. George St., Toronto. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the film begins at 6:30 p.m. Free Admission. Everyone welcome.