DIRECTING / LEAD PROJECTS
INVERT YOU (Short instructional video, 0:58 mins, 2018)
INVERT YOU is an instructional video on how to perform a strict handstand push-up. It is not meant to be attempted by individuals who have not yet developed the physical upper body strength to accomplish this task, but rather as a visually dynamic entry into the plethora of similar exercise videos littering YouTube.
CONSENT IS SEXY (multimedia collaboration with audience participation, SOHO 20 Gallery, August 13, 2016, Brooklyn, NY)
CONSENT IS SEXY was a collaboration with Em North, who held an artist residency in Summer 2016 at the SOHO 20 Gallery. Consent is Sexy was a tea dance set to close the residency. The event included consent-engagement drinking games and final viewing of a mapping and drawing project created during Em's time at the gallery. After the murder of our queer POC folks at Orlando's Pulse nightclub in June 2016; and the ongoing and relentless policing of Black and Brown bodies, how do we continue to enjoy the spaces that have been our havens, our places of joy and love? Consent is Sexy is a process: What are your stories of nightlife? How do you envision queer space as healing, and as holding potential for our growth and renewal? Together, we threw a party.
UNTITLED TRANS NAMES (Short documentary, in Production, est. 2016)
UNTITLED TRANS NAMES is a short documentary that asks trans folks a simple question: “Tell me a story about your name and why you chose it.” But as simple as this inquiry initially appears, it can reveal the intersection of personal and collective histories when responses are informed by each subject’s background, hopes, desires and fantasies. The project highlights only a small aspect of the lives of trans* people, but one that carries enormous significance, as choosing of one’s name is often an important step into a transition process that can be prohibitive for many of us without access to certain technologies or even basic health care.
2015 is arguably the peak year of transgender visibility, with even The New York Times and the Today show featuring series on what it means to be transgender in this present age. Not to mention the many other media projects in distribution or in-progress that highlight transgender characters leads. What is significant to note; however, is that very little of this visibility is produced by trans-identified individuals.
Currently in Production. Estimated completion in 2016.
GRIT & GRIND (Short documentary, 10 minutes, color, US, 2013, in collaboration with Sasha Wortzel)
GRIT & GRIND is a documentary that recalls the Clit Club, an edgy lesbian party set in New York City’s Meatpacking District in the 1990s, as this large metropolis struggled with the AIDS epidemic. The film acts as a poly-vocal memoir of the sexually charged energy produced by this intergenerational, cross-racial, mixed-class venue; and serves as a record of a vibrant neighborhood before it became home to homogeneous trendy boutiques and luxury hotels.
WILDNESS (DIR: Wu Tsang, PROD: Felix Endara, feature documentary, 74 minutes, color, US, 2012)
Three-minute teaser for WILDNESS, a documentary that depicts the creativity and struggle arising when queer avant-garde performance artists meet transgender Latina immigrant women at historic Los Angeles bar Silver Platter. The film premiered at MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight series in 2012, and went on to screen at SXSW and the Whitney Biennial later that year.
BRO CRUSH (Music video, 3:47 minutes, color, US, 2006)
A rite of passage for transmen that also doubles as a loving gesture: learning how to tie a tie. I was trying to capture a feel and it’s definitely a statement of love. I wanted it to evoke desire and longing, but also love in how one person patiently teaches the other how to tie his tie.
SAUL SEARCHING (Video, 6:30 minutes, color, US, 2003)
SAUL SEARCHING is a cinema-verite portrait of a transgender Latino youth. In the video, he explains how and why he became "Saul."
Still image for SAUL SEARCHING, 2003
PRODUCING PROJECTS
NORTH BY CURRENT (DIR: Angelo Madsen Minax, PROD: Felix Endara, feature documentary, 85 mins, 2021)
NORTH BY CURRENT is a visual rumination on the understated relationships between mothers and children, truths and myths, losses and gains. After the inconclusive death of his young niece, filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown, preparing to make a film about a broken criminal justice system. Instead, he pivots to excavate the depths of generational addiction, Christian fervor, and trans embodiment. Lyrically assembled images, decades of home movies, and ethereal narration form an idiosyncratic and poetic undertow that guide a viewer through lifetimes and relationships. Like the relentless Michigan seasons, the meaning of family shifts, as Madsen, his sister, and his parents strive tirelessly to accept each other. Poised to incite more internal searching than provide clear statements or easy answers, NORTH BY CURRENT dives head first into the challenges of creating identity, the agony of growing up, and the ever-fickle nuances of family.
Director / Producer: Angelo Madsen Minax
Producer: Felix Endara
Executive Producer: Charlotte Cook, Justine Nagan, Chris White
Original Music: Julien Baker
TRT: 85 minutes, 4k, 2k, HD, VHS, Super 8
North By Current is a co-production of Field of Vision and POV
unseen (DIR: Set Hernandez Rongkilyo, PROD: Felix Endara, feature documentary, in-progress)
unseen follows Pedro, an aspiring social worker, who must surmount political restrictions as a blind, undocumented immigrant to obtain a college degree and support his family. But when attaining his graduation dreams leads to new and unexpected challenges, what will Pedro do?
Director / Producer: Set Hernandez Rongkilyo
Producer: Felix Endara, Day Al-Mohamed
Executive Producer: Diane Quon
Original Music: DeAndre James Allen-Toole
Original Song: Julie Yeeun Kim
