SFTFF 2026 – SPECULATIVE FICTION

The 2026 San Francisco Transgender Film Festival continues with SPECULATIVE FICTION, a shorts block featuring six out of this world films.

Las Cosas Que Brillan (11:09min)
Kristal Sotomayor, United States, 2025

A curious trans mermaid defies her mother’s warnings to venture up to the surface, only to discover the world above is not what she dreamt. Las Cosas Que Brillan explores the impacts of environmental destruction, and the danger of being desired in a postcolonial world.

Motherhood (12:22min)
Ava Corder, United States, 2025

Nicki is one of the first trans women to carry a baby to term as part of a groundbreaking uterine transplant trial. Just hours before her scheduled C-section, her water breaks—something the doctors said couldn’t happen. Her physician urges her to stick to protocol, warning that the outcome of her birth could impact access for future trans patients. Her husband, Benny, and her father, Al, beg her to comply. But Nicki chooses to follow her instinct and pursue a natural birth at home. She’ll give birth on her terms.

Long Away (16:32min)
Tilly Bridges & Susan Bridges, United States, 2025

Set twenty-five years into the future, Long Away is a sci-fi story about Victoria and the father who died when she was very young. As a trans woman who transitioned as an adult, Victoria’s father never got to know her truth. She uses a one-round-trip-only time travel device to jump back to our present and meet the man she can barely remember… and try to find out if he’d love her for who she really is.

Shelter (AMPARO) (6:32min)
Tilly Bridges & Susan Bridges, Brazil, 2025

“Amparo” is a film about rupture—about someone who defies the system and takes back her own life. The narrative portrays the everyday oppression of late capitalism, exploring the emotional and physical exhaustion of Alana, who finds in Carol, her girlfriend, both refuge and the courage to change.

Humans Are Shapes (Trailer) (1:26min)
Sepi Mashiahof, United States, 2025

After having possessed the bodies of two trans sisters, two aliens make a fatal choice in order to obey human codes against taboo, all in pursuit of love and security.

They Bend Stars (11:00min)
Diego Migliorini, United Kingdom, 2025

A genderless alien tortured in an underground facility learns that the key to return to their purple planet lies within. They must escape their captor and find their way back to their distant home.

Approximate running time: 60 minutes