Tranimations

What has animated films to do with transvestism? In 1992, Lasse, or Lisa as she sometimes calls herself, released a collection of short films that explore norms and expectations about what is perceived as male and female.

The collection is called "Crossing the Line", and Lisa immediately comments: "I'm actually not crossing any line, it's the line that cuts right through me". Many films portray transvestites and transsexuals in a negative way. It is this image that Lisa wants to change with her films. Through animations you can be whoever you want to be, the pen enables you to become whoever you want to.

 The first film was "Bikini", which quite explicitly themes transvestism. A boy is tip-toes at home, opens drawers and then heads down to the beach to be alone with his yellow bikini. The trouble is that two macho guys turn up at the beach...

The second film, "Honey Bunny", is a story about a man who enters a restaurant. He tries to order something he calls "honey bunny", but the waiter never turns up with his order. All of a sudden this changes and as if by by a stroke of magic the man's dream is fulfilled.

The third film, "... and half the kingdom" is a film about "our roles and what we expect from each other", Lisa tells. A frog and a princess meet, and after this, most of us can probably the rest - we think! This princess is not the typical princess that we might expect, and matters are brought to a head when we learn about the princess's true nature.

Last film in the program is "Hand in hand" which explicitly shows which prejudices we have, even though we try to convince ourselves that we do not have any. Three girls of different ethnic backgrounds meet, but when a fourth girl joins the group and wants to hang out with the others, matters come to a halt. What is wrong with her?

We were also treated to some of the extra material, and there were copies of the films for sale, signed by the animator. Humour and eye-openers, and a unique style work together to create one of the highlights of the Stockholm Pride festival.