On Friday, May 4 at 7 pm in the PAC, our documentary Transfixed was shown to an audience of students, parents, and teachers. It tells the story of a transgender woman named Jessica who we met in downtown Denver. She speaks bluntly about her experiences as a trans woman through her struggles both internally and in the world around her. However, Jared Formanek, my creative partner and head director, and I have not been able to contact Jessica since the morning we interviewed her and as of now we do not know where she is or what has become of her.

One Saturday back in February, Jared along with other members of our crew, Katherine Johnson, Jazz Reynolds, and Betsy Pruznick, ventured to the LGBT center in downtown Denver to find a subject. Jared and I’s first project proposal had failed and we had decided to make this documentary on a whim on hopes of fulfilling our senior legacy our last year in TV. They were unable to find a subject at the center and were about to leave the center to head home, when Jazz and Jared decided to check on something back inside the center. It was some stroke of fate that they did, because that’s how they met Isabel, a trans woman from South Africa who spoke fluent French and limited English. They got her number with plans to meet soon to film for the documentary.

Primarily, our first goal was to document Isabel walking down the busy streets of Denver (as long as she was comfortable with it) to see what reactions arose and create a social experiment of sorts. We set a date to meet back up with Isabel and drove down as a crew with gear in the trunk and hopes to begin filming. Our roles to start off as a crew had Jared as head director, myself as assistant director, Katherine and Betsy as cinematographers, and Jazz as producer. However, these roles were bound to shift quite a bit.

The return to Denver was both successful and unsuccessful. We returned to the LGBT Center to find that Isabel was not there. After a few phone conversations with the help of Katherine’s wonderful French, we established that Isabel was unwell and unable to film that day. However, this proved to be a blessing as it allowed us to bond and learn more as a crew. We decided to make the most of our time exploring locations and taking b-roll. We signed up for the Center’s LGBT youth group called Rainbow Alley, a support community for LGBT kids and teens (they have drag shows on Fridays). This day was a day I will remember fondly from my high school life; it was full of memories of watching the sunset on the parking garage roof (a location we would use later), looking for exotic music at the record store, eating at Grand China and meeting Bheic Cardi, our favorite waitress, and laughter and positivity beyond compare. After that evening, we were no longer just a crew of film kids, we were a group of friends.

The second return to Denver was essentially a reschedule of Isabel’s interview. Our crew set off early in the morning, and arrived in a less glamorous part of Aurora where Isabel had told us she lived. She greeted us at the gate to her small apartment complex in a robe and slippers, and graciously led us to her small apartment room. I remember her as a generous, considerate woman. Although her English wasn’t amazing and our crew had a lot of gear for the small space, she made sure we all felt comfortable and welcomed. Isabel was not alone, however. Isabel told us that just a few days ago, she had met Jessica who had nowhere to go at the time, and invited her to live together in her apartment. Jessica was completely American, spoke fluent English, and also agreed to be interviewed. However, both women had one interesting request in order to be interviewed: they did not want their faces or bodies on camera or video because of various reasons, one being privacy and another being insecurity and dysphoria. The interviews were both intriguing and difficult to sit through. Jared interviewed both women, one at a time, and managed to draw out their honest, raw stories while Betsy recorded audio. The interviews left our crew speechless, touched, and amazed. This was one of the most impactful moments of my life, and experience that I will remember forever.

After that month, Jared and I realized that we had a predicament of sorts. We had an amazing audio edit, but no visuals as to preserve the privacy of Jessica. We had resorted to only focusing on Jessica’s story for FOASS and were in dire need of visuals that could bring Jessica’s story to life. Our search brought us to Amelia Overholt, a talented actress who we felt would be the perfect stand-in for Jessica. Working with Amelia was amazing, it was my first time working with an actor on camera, and Amelia was both cooperative and amazingly talented. We filmed long hours both in Denver and at Jared’s cousin’s new house, and it was incredible watching Jessica’s story come together. Amelia had to endure so much last minute, from literally beating herself in front of a mirror and to laying under a cascade of falling feathers, to being catcalled from random strangers late at night in Denver (people have no respect). I shot all of Amelia’s shots, which became a large part of Jessica’s story and thus became a main cinematographer. With the help of Amelia, Jared’s cousin, our crew, and a long weekend of filming, ‘Transfixed’ started to come together.

The Films on a Shoestring film festival was an incredible experience for our cast and crew.  I was able to look around and see tears and understanding in the eyes of many of my peers and people that I’ve looked up to for years. If you have ever had the opportunity to make a positive change with something you create, you would know how amazing that feels. Transfixed won the Best Documentary Award and People’s Choice Documentary Award. Although Jessica was not able to be present to view her own documentary and accept the much deserved praise, her story lives on. Her words touched an audience of a wide variety of people and it was an honor to bring those words to those people on such a creative platform. I don’t think I anticipated the reaction or impact that this documentary would have not only on others, but also myself. It is experiences like these that make me realize that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.