Ithaca College

Special guest filmmaker Eliza Greenwood and her colleague Connor Gillis will introduce the documentary film "Austin Unbound," and provide Q&A after the screening on Monday April 7 at 7 pm in the Handwerker Gallery. The screening and discussion is the final offering of this year's Out of the Closet and Onto the Screen film series. The screening is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the LGBT Center and the Handwerker Gallery.

About the film: Austin, who is a deaf transman, has struggled with feeling burdened by his female anatomy all his life, and he binds his chest every day. “I felt like I was wearing a Halloween costume,” he signs. In middle school, he changed his name and began to dress as a boy. Despite his challenges, Austin is a regular guy with a comedic sense and flair for romance. Gathering varying intimate glimpses from his mother, girlfriend, and best friend, Austin shamelessly counters with his own reflections on his personal journey. The film follows Austin and his best friend on a road trip to finally undergo a double-mastectomy. Unbound at last, Austin is eager to get on with life. His journey is an inspiration to his community and beyond as he shares his intimate insights with self-awareness and humor.

About the guest speakers:
Eliza Greenwood, Producer/Director, is a hearing Sibling of a Deaf American, or SODA. While pursuing her B.A., she was one of a handful of hearing students to attend Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts college for the deaf and hard-of-hearing in the world. Her experiences working in and promoting deaf theatre at Gallaudet and other venues led her to found Greensoda Productions.

Connor Gillis is a Deaf, queer, transgender community organizer from the South. He has trained over 700 teachers, students, doctors, and professional staff members on LGBTQ topics, and is a bi-yearly guest lecturer at Emory University and the University of Georgia. Connor presented at Creating Change conference in 2013. Connor worked with Lambda Legal and also teamed with Drago Renteria to assist with the creation of Planet Deaf Queer, an online website devoted to the intersection of the Deaf and queer communities. Connor is attending graduate school at Gallaudet University.

http://events.ithaca.edu/event/out_of_the_closet_series_film_screening_with_guest_filmmaker_and_colleague#.UzGULoUVCbQ

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Luca Maurer at lmaurer@ithaca.edu or (607) 274-7394. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.