Normative Processes and Their Transgression in Queer Cinema

<p>In this conversation filmmaker Frédéric Tcheng and I reflect on what characterizes queer cinema. Despite the (fortunate) impossibility to attribute a systematic label on a film as “queer,” we attempt to dissociate films that integrate homosexual or transsexual narrative components within itself but yet remain within a relatively conventional structure, and thus contribute to a problematic yet interesting normalization of the LGBT community, from films that substantially transgress genre/gender through their very narrative structure. Such questions about normative processes and their subversion leads us beyond cinema to the domain of the social bodies.</p> <p>Frédéric Tcheng is a French-born filmmaker. He co-produced, co-edited and shot <em>Valentino: The Last Emperor</em>, the 2009 hit documentary shortlisted for the Best Documentary Oscar. He is the co-director of <em>Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel</em>, a Samuel Goldwyn release. His collaborations includes such varied personalities as the poet Sarah Riggs, the fashion brands H&M, Jimmy Choo, Ferragamo and Vogue, among others. He is currently working on a feature documentary about haute couture and developing a screenplay about queer histories.</p>