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The Aggressives

Beyond The Aggressives

“Peddle asks his subjects to define themselves and then he keeps watching, letting their actions color in the lines of their self-definition. It’s an approach which grants dignity to his subjects, an effect which is only amplified by the passage of time.”

–THE NEW YORK TIMES

“As the sequel of the 2005 film The Aggressives, director Daniel Peddle captures both the excitement of youth and the harsher realities of adulthood with care, allowing his subjects space to reflect on lives shaped by both queerness, identity and personal struggles.”

–DEADLINE

“The sequel provides an ever-maturing understanding of the tension between labels and identities, between a changing self, an expanding queer ‘community’ and the broader society…Peddle’s tender and insightful sequel makes it easy to wonder what joys, sorrows and epiphanies a future follow-up could bring.”

–VARIETY

“A heartfelt and hopeful portrait.”

–INDIEWIRE

“Deepen(s) conversations about gender, identity, visibility, and reimagine(s) futures for people to thrive and live as their truest selves.”

–GLAAD

“There’s inspiring power in the way this sequel shows us how they’ve grown and stepped into their identities, in spite of adversity. Additionally, Beyond The Aggressives involves the voices of queer BIPOC who were, themselves, inspired by the original film all those years ago.”

–QUEERTY

“When it comes to positively amplifying our visibility, Beyond The Aggressives is just on time. The tribulations we witness show why our stories deserve more airtime: to validate our existence and to humanize our experiences.”

–AUTOSTRADDLE

“In the end, that’s what Beyond The Aggressives: 25 Years Later is really about: growth, evolution, self-expression and the bravery inherent in pushing back against limitations. Its theme of self-realization is a universal one.”

–NPR

Immersive and sensorial, GLAAD’S 2024 Outstanding Documentary winner, BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES: 25 YEARS LATER, produced by Wellington Love, revisits four of the original subjects from Daniel Peddle’s groundbreaking 2005 film THE AGGRESSIVES – a seminal documentary centering masculine-presenting people of color assigned female at birth. The now iconic Kisha, Trevon, Octavio and Chin are back, sharing an array of their triumphs and challenges, including: pursuing dreams in the arts, surviving the experience of being held in ICE detention, reuniting with estranged children, deciding whether to start families of their own, and seeking gender-affirming healthcare. The new film also delves into how much the language, culture and visibility of the transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming community has evolved, and grapples with the many complexities of gender identity, expectations and expression.

 

Whereas the first film relied exclusively on the perspective of an “outsider looking in” – BEYOND THE AGGRESSIVES is the reverse – a product of the community itself. The film collaborates with the cast directly, and includes interviews with young queer people who were deeply impacted by the original documentary. This “next generation” shares how the 2005 film informed their identity, as well as critical thoughts on what the first film missed. All combined, these intimate stories and diverse testimonials reveal compelling insights into the queer experience and paint a deeply moving portrait of four trailblazing heroes.

Credits

To contact the filmmakers, click here