Disappearing Island Film

A film about trans resistance as witnessed by the Rikers Island Jail Complex.

Disappearing Island

Disappearing Island tells the story of trans resistance to the Rikers Island Jail Complex as narrated by the island itself. Set against a fraught struggle to shut the jail down by 2027, this 20 minute film shares the poetry and testimonies of trans experiences on Rikers island, and animates the other worlds that trans prisoners have conceived both on and off the island.

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Meet the Participants
Josephine

Josephine Fantasia Perez Royal Silk Boujhetto is an up and coming legendary child of the mainstream and kiki scene. She is a proud trans woman of color who does not play about her activism. As a teenager she lived in Transy House and was adopted by the late revolutionary mother Sylvia Rivera where her fight for sex workers and poor queer people began 20 years ago. Josephine lives and creates a culture of standing up for one another and loving one another in unity. She fights for people of color and poor minority whites who are stigmatized, judged and looked down upon by the rich. She demands justice, peace, unity and respect. Josephine is the woman who stands together with all different people and is never defeated in the struggle for the rights of poor people around the world. “Love and love and always have love for one another: End Racism, End Discrimination, End Violence and Police Brutality, End the violence, stand together in peace and love and justice and equality for all around the world.”
Lucky

Lucky Martinez is a proud trans man and survivor of Rikers Island. He is currently dealing with probation which will soon be over. Lucky loves freedom, pork chop and boxing. There were many times, due to abuse and mistreatment, that Lucky didn’t think he would make it off the Island. He is determined to let the world know how Black trans men are treated on Rikers and fight for its closure.
Melanie

Melanie came out as trans in the late 80s and was kicked out of her home when she was 15. She became homeless and lived on the westside highway where Melanie remembers Marsha P Johnson caring for her and keeping her and her friends fed who were living by the salt mine and pier. Melanie walked the balls in the late 80s and 90s and joined the house of Legend. Melanie remembers battling on the catwalk with her siblings. Today, Melanie is the last sister of the House of Legend, all of her siblings have passed away from AIDS or been murdered.
Grace

Grace Detrevarah Boujhetto is a well known advocate for incarcerated trans women and self described freedom fighter. She has survived 15 years of incarceration and began fighting for incarcerated people as a jailhouse lawyer in Attica. Since then she has become a Health Educator and Senior Peer Liason with the LGBTQ+ Case Management program for Osborne and has been involved in passing several bills to improve trans care across New York. Annually, she hosts a Trans Day of Remembrance event with leaders from across the trans community to commemorate and honor trans siblings who have passed.