Tgirls Make Music (2026)
Tgirls Make Music
A film by Lucy Rose Shaftain-Fenner
30 minutes
Tgirls Make Music is a documentary about trans woman rapper and producer htmljones (Ishaani Ponniah), framed through the visual language of early-2000s television, 2010s internet aesthetics and British culture.
The film features an extensive interview with htmljones and live performances by her, alongside music by Vylet Pony and Xploshi.
Nostalgic animated bumpers appear throughout, inspired by those seen on TV networks in the 90s/2000s, such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Adult Swim.
The film makes use of digital 3D animation, claymation, digital hand-drawn animation, ASCII art, video compression, dithering and more, to recreate the style of aesthetics from the era.
The film is shot on consumer grade Hi8/Video8 tape, an obsolete video format, and features a range of 2000s era ephemera such as money and technology.
Tgirls Make Music was commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella as part of FVU New Takes. FVU New Takes is supported by Jerwood Foundation. Exhibition partner: Arnolfini. Supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
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