The documentary Connection | Isolation presents eight intimate portraits of trans and post-gender individuals navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst moments of connection and isolation, participants reveal a deepening awareness of gender, their bodies, and trans community.
Created by an all trans and queer crew, this hybrid documentary interlaces portraits with (re)enactments.
Connection | Isolation invites viewers to witness the strength of connection as an act of resistance, offering care in the face of crisis, and using reflection as a path toward healing. The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Film in Torino, Italy at the Divine Queer Film Festival. This represents our Los Angeles premiere.
The screening will be followed by a discussion with filmmakers Director + Producer G. Chesler and Composer + Associate Producer Luka Fisher in conversation with Eliot Dunn, Fellow in Gender and Sexuality Studies at USC. Connection | Isolation will be screened with Open Captions.
Participant Bios:
G. Chesler (they/them) is an award-winning Director and Producer of documentary and fiction films addressing gender, sexuality, racial justice, and disability, through and despite the body. Their most recent documentary Connection | Isolation on trans lives in the COVID pandemic was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Film at Divine Queer in Italy and is distributed by New Day Films. G. Produces distribution and impact for Courtney Hermann’s Outliers and Outlaws on the migration of hundreds of lesbian world-builders to Eugene, Oregon. They are a Professor of Film and Gender Studies at George Mason University and live in Portland, Oregon.

Luka Fisher (she/her) is a queer woman of the trans experience. An artist, composer and cultural producer, her work includes collaborations with queer musicians, performance artists, and filmmakers. Luka’s music features on compilations from Delusional Records, Springstoff, Dublab, and Silber Records. She’s an associate producer and actress in Lyle Kash’s feature Death and Bowling and together with Kyler O’Neal, wrote music for Invertigo Dance Company’s interdisciplinary trans performance Walk The Walk. Luka is producer and music supervisor for The Lovers a queer web series by Daviel Shy exploring intimacy and community during the early days of the pandemic, now streaming.

Eliot “Eli” Dunn (they/he) is the Postdoctoral Fellow in Gender and Sexuality Studies at USC where their research bridges trans and contemporary media studies with a focus on experimental forms and temporalities. Their writing has appeared in Film Quarterly and Gender Forum, but they mostly appear in coffee shops and at D&D tables.

This program is organized by G. Chesler and is co-presented with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2025, presented by One Institute.