Film

A film bracingly of the moment that also somehow already feels like an indispensable time capsule of contemporary queer Brooklyn, the luminous sophomore feature from Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli is a radical act of meta-adaptation that transposes a novel by gay German writer Ronald M. Schernikau from 1980s West Berlin to 2018 New York. Centered on the intertwining lives of a group of trans and genderqueer artists and activists, So Pretty traces the couplings that form and are quietly strained as the group attempts to carve out a utopian space for themselves in an increasingly hostile world. Shot with documentary-like intimacy in both digital and 16mm, this delicate tale of love, literature, and collective struggle finds truth and beauty in human connection.

Q&A with filmmaker Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli