Frameline49: We Are Pat

Three decades ago, Saturday Night Live bravely dared to ask “Who’s he… Or she?” and turned gender nonconformity into a punchline with its recurring It’s Pat sketch. Created by and starring Julia Sweeney, the character’s ambiguous gender and the way they managed to turn everyone around them into a transvestigator was such a hit with TV audiences that there was even an It’s Pat movie ghostwritten by Quentin Tarantino and featuring a musical cameo from Ween. (It was the 90s…)

In Rowan Haber’s We Are Pat, a who’s-who of trans comics (including Girl God, James Tom, Roz Hernandez, and Nori Reed) are tasked with the ultimate challenge: creating a new Pat sketch in the year 2025. Beyond being hilariously funny, We Are Pat is also a deeply moving interrogation of the boneheadedly problematic (yet nonetheless meaningful) representation of our collective past.

Expected Guests

Rowan Haber
Director

Content Advisory: Transphobia.