Year: 2024

Runtime: 83 Minutes

Director: Jules Rosskam

Writers: Nate Gualtieri and Jules Rosskam

Stars: Aden Hakimi, Theo Germaine

By Morgan Roberts

What is the trans experience? Filmmaker and scholar Jules Rosskam delves into the past and present of the trans community through hybrid filmmaking to better understand the history and experiences of community members. “Desire Lines,” blending scripted narrative filmmaking and documentary-style interviews, begins to archive and examine the experiences of trans men. 

Largely due to pop culture, the trans community has very defined and rigid societal conceptualization. Rosskam parses out the differences between gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation in ways which dispel the gender binary-focused ideas about those subjects. Particularly in the interviews, we begin to see how nuanced gender identity and gender expression can be. The film is very captivating in these interviews. Some interviews are one on one with the director. Yet, some of the interviews are in pairs and groups. It is interesting to see even within community members not just the differences in their personal experienced, but in their conceptualization of the same topics. 

As a cisgender person, it is important to hear these conversations. Especially when there are disagreements. It personifies the nuances of the community which are generally reduced. The media has done a disservice to the trans community, treating the individuals which make up the community as a monolith, not just in their experience but in their understanding of their own identities. The film explores the differences in what masculinity means, how masculinity is expressed, and how masculinity also fits into ones sexuality. The film highlights that gender identity and sexual orientation are two separate pieces; yet they can sometimes be extremely interconnected. 

These interviews with trans men are framed by a narrative story in the film about a researcher Ahmad (Aden Hakimi). Ahmad is researching gay trans history, exploring everything from gay bath-houses, the AIDS epidemic, and the language of the community in the 1980s. Through this narrative, we are also introduced to Lou Sullivan, an activist and trans man Sullivan is considered the first trans men who publicly identified as gay. In his interviews, we learn more about the challenges the community was facing and the extreme misconceptions of the time. Sullivan’s interviews elevate the conceptualization of gender identity and sexual orientation as two distinct facets. 

The hybrid style of “Desire Lines” is incredibly ambitious. The narrative framework tees up the conversations and interviews from those with lived experience. The narrative portions of the film feel a bit more rigid than the interviews. The dialogue sometimes stunts the flow of the film. And while Ahmad is our main character, we don’t get to fully see his experiences mirrored with his research. I understand that Ahmad is tasked to exist more as a blank slate to be able to share the varied experiences of the subjects in the documentary portions of the film. But as the focal character, if we were able to get more personal with him, it could have added to the impact. Nevertheless, the final scene of the film, pulling together all of the themes and experiences is quite powerful. 

Regardless, “Desire Lines” explores the trans community and documents history long omitted by society in a way that can be understood by those just exploring the gender and sexuality. Part-cinematic, part-educational, “Desire Lines” demonstrates how far the modern trans community has come, and where we, as a society, can continue to learn.