At TIFF, Alex dives into Iranian filmmaker Farnoosh Samadi's Between Dreams and Hope, a powerful film about a trans man in Iran navigating the dehumanizing maze of gender-affirming care — and connects it to two others, from Canada and France, that reveal how patriarchy, money, and bureaucracy shape queer and trans survival. These aren't straight reviews so much as reflections on how films spark curiosity, uncover hidden systems, and resist erasure. ✨ Don't miss it! This October, join me for Living Out Loud — a FREE three-day live online summit all about queer and trans stories and queer and trans history. <a href= "http://seventh-row.com/living-out-loud">Sign up here</a>

At TIFF, Alex dives into Iranian filmmaker Farnoosh Samadi's Between Dreams and Hope, a powerful film about a trans man in Iran navigating the dehumanizing maze of gender-affirming care — and connects it to two others, from Canada and France, that reveal how patriarchy, money, and bureaucracy shape queer and trans survival. These aren't straight reviews so much as reflections on how films spark curiosity, uncover hidden systems, and resist erasure. ✨ Don't miss it! This October, join me for Living Out Loud — a FREE three-day live online summit all about queer and trans stories and queer and trans history. Sign up here

At TIFF, Alex dives into Iranian filmmaker Farnoosh Samadi's Between Dreams and Hope, a powerful film about a trans man in Iran navigating the dehumanizing maze of gender-affirming care — and connects it to two others, from Canada and France, that reveal how patriarchy, money, and bureaucracy shape queer and trans survival. These aren't straight reviews so much as reflections on how films spark curiosity, uncover hidden systems, and resist erasure. ✨ Don't miss it! This October, join me for Living Out Loud — a FREE three-day live online summit all about queer and trans stories and queer and trans history. <a href="http://seventh-row.com/living-out-loud" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sign up here</a>

181. Between Dreams and Hope and queer survival (TIFF 2025)

A weekly film podcast that helps you have a more rewarding experience watching movies by connecting you to the best under-the-radar films from around the world so that you don't have to watch all the movies to watch good movies that expand your cinematic horizons — both in content and form.

This is a podcast about those films, the joys and challenges of finding and watching those films, how filmmaking choices affect our experience of them,  and the people and places we discover through looking outside the mainstream and beyond the English language.

Our mission is to upend the canon to be more inclusive by spotlighting and diving deep into international and independent films by and about women, Indigenous People, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. Find multiple episodes on the films of Kelly Reichardt, Céline Sciamma, Andrew Haigh, and Joachim Trier.

Become a member to access the full (200+ episode) podcast archive and get early access to new episodes: http://seventh-row.com/join

TV & Film

Film Reviews

A weekly film podcast that helps you have a more rewarding experience watching movies by connecting you to the best under-the-radar films from around the world so that you don't have to watch all the movies to watch good movies that expand your cinematic horizons — both in content and form. This is a podcast about those films, the joys and challenges of finding and watching those films, how filmmaking choices affect our experience of them, and the people and places we discover through looking outside the mainstream and beyond the English language. Our mission is to upend the canon to be more inclusive by spotlighting and diving deep into international and independent films by and about women, Indigenous People, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. Find multiple episodes on the films of Kelly Reichardt, Céline Sciamma, Andrew Haigh, and Joachim Trier. Become a member to access the full (200+ episode) podcast archive and get early access to new episodes: http://seventh-row.com/join

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181. Between Dreams and Hope and queer survival (TIFF 2025)

181. Between Dreams and Hope and queer survival (TIFF 2025)

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