An insightful, generous and supportive reframing of transmasculine sexuality, Jules Rosskam’s Sundance documentary Desire Lines astutely blends first-person interviews (with transmen who are attracted to men) alongside a fictional storyline that poses nuanced questions and helps to deliver a compassionate examination both of the history of transsexuality and private desires.
The spine of the film, which unites these fictional and historical aspects, is a real-life person, American author and activist Lou Sullivan (1951-1991) known for his work on behalf of transmen, and hailed as the first transgender man to publicly identify as gay.
In the 1980s, gender clinics told Sullivan he did not exist – the medical community had a deep resistance to transmen as gay, and decreed that transmen could not, in fact, be gay. Archival interviews with Sullivan, in which he discusses his sexuality, provide a fascinating counterpoint to contemporary interviews.
The fictional aspect of the film sees Ahmad Arastood (Aden Hakimi), a fictional character looking for representation in the history of gay bathhouses and cruising culture, visit a fictional LGBTQ+ archive (based on the Gerber/Hart Library and Archive, and the San Francisco GLBT Historical Society) where he is helped by a young transmasculine activist named Kieran, played by Theo Germaine. During his search, Ahmad discovers past links with Sullivan.
This is all set alongside revealing and open interviews with a series of transmen who discuss race, sex, their past and hopes for their future. These are illuminating, thoughtful and rounded, and serve to deliver a complex portrayal of transmasculinity.
The addition of Theo Germaine as Kieran (who can be seen as the lead opposite Kevin Bacon in the John Logan feature They/Them, and who also starred in Ryan Murphy’s The Politician for Netflix) helps bring a serious edge to the fictional side of the film, with the narrative sitting nicely alongside the interviews and archival footage, while Melissa Dyne’s soundtrack and sound design help give the film an evocative tone.
During the Sundance 2024 prize-winning ceremony, Desire Lines won the NEXT Special Jury Award.
US, 2024, 83mins
Dir/scr: Jules Rosskam
Production: Full Spectrum Features, MamSir Productions, 521 Films
Producers: Jules Rosskam, André Pérez, Amy E. Powell, Brittani Ward
Cinematography: Marie Hinson
Editor: Jules Rosskam
Music: Melissa Dyne
With: Theo Germaine, Aden Hakimi
