What Do We Want Films
Description

What Do We Want Films is a documentary production and educational distribution company led by independent filmmaker Annalise Ophelian. We offer educational licensing for award-winning documentaries that illuminate hidden histories, stimulate critical thinking, and inspire conversation. Our current offerings are all available for immediate digital download, to meet the changing needs of your classroom and on-line learning. 

What Do We Want Films. “We Bring Stories To Light,” n.d. https://www.whatdowewantfilms.com/.
Works in catalogue
  • Collage of images with text: "Nature really loves diversity, it's human beings that have an awful time with it." Blue and tan background colors, with semi-opaque copy of the Gender Identity Disorder diagnosis from the DSM superimposed over the top fourth of the image. Three collage images are aligned vertically. The top image is a sepia toned sensational headline "How the sex change operation was performed" next to a white, pin-up style femme woman. Middle image is an unmade, twin size hospital bed. Final image is a dark blue restroom sign with the glyphs for female and male separated by a vertical line. There is text at the bottom that reads: "Diagnosing Difference, a film by Annalise Ophelian"

    Diagnosing Difference

    film/video, 2009

    Diagnosing Difference is a feature-length length documentary featuring interviews with 13 diverse scholars, activists, and artists who identify on the trans spectrum (transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, and gender non-binary) about the impact and implications of the Gender Identity Disorder (GID) on their lives and communities.

  • Illustration of Miss Major, a Black transgender woman in screen print style. She has grey hair and is wearing a black tank top, with large lime green earrings and a green background. Her mouth is open in the act of speaking and two well manicured fingers are visible.

    MAJOR!

    film/video, 2015

    MAJOR! is a documentary film exploring the life and campaigns of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a formerly incarcerated Black transgender elder and activist who has been fighting for the rights of trans women of color for over 40 years. Miss Major is a veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion and a survivor of Attica State Prison, a former sex worker, an elder, and a community leader and human rights activist. She is simply "Mama" to many in her community. Miss Major's personal story and activism for transgender civil rights intersects LGBT struggles for justice and equality from the 1960s to today.

  • Collage movie poster. The upper quarter of the image is the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico at dusk. In the middle of the image are photographs of high school age lesbians in groups, smiling, making funny faces at the camera, showing community and camaraderie. The lower portion of the poster is the lights of Albuquerque as seen from a distance at night, with a block of text with various cast and crew details below.

    The Whistle

    film/video, 2019

    A 45 year old Latinx trans man returns to his birthplace - Albuquerque, New Mexico - in search for the origin of a secret lesbian code he learned when he identified as a teenage dyke in the 80s. The Whistle tells the story of a secret code created by and shared among young lesbians in 1970s & 80s Albuquerque as a means of self-­identification and finding community.