Experiencing Interruptions?

My Aunt Mame

A working class, gender non-conforming woman in the 1960s leaves a legacy for her butch dyke grand niece. This is a humanizing narrative made 100% by one queer older woman, which highlights intersectional identities that complicate discourses of sex, gender, and class.

  • Krissy Mahan
    Director
  • Krissy Mahan
    Writer
  • Krissy Mahan
    Producer
  • Krissy Mahan
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    humor, narrative, autobiography, comedy, drama/comedy
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 58 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 29, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    525 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 2019 Bechdel Film Festival
    Akron, OH
    United States
    May 30, 2019
    Midwest USA Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2019 qFlix Philadelphia
    Philadelphia
    United States
    March 28, 2019
    Official Selection
  • 2019 The Film Collective Film Festival
    Philadelphia, PA
    United States
    May 13, 2019
    Official Selection
  • 2019 PopUp Anthology
    Trenton, NJ
    United States
    April 19, 2019
    Official Selection
  • 2019 Mosaic Film Festival
    Georgia Piedmont Technical College, Clarkson, George
    United States
    March 15, 2019
    Georgia Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2019 Splice Film Festival
    Brooklyn, NY
    United States
    June 20, 2019
    Semi Finalist
  • 2019 Wicked Queer Film Festival
    Boston, MA
    United States
    April 7, 2019
    Northeast USA Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 TransStellar Film Festival, Cinema Detroit, Detroit, MI USA
    Detroit, MI
    United States
    September 29, 2018
    Midwest USA Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 aGLIFF All Genders Lifestyles and Identities Film Festival
    Austin, TX
    United States
    September 6, 2018
    Southwest Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 Philadelpia Film Society Local Filmmaker Showcase
    Philadelphia
    United States
    May 11, 2018
    Pennyslvania Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 Dyke Drama Film Festival
    Perth
    Australia
    May 24, 2018
    Austrialian Premiere
    Official Selection
  • 2018 New York Feminist Film Festival
    New York City
    United States
    March 10, 2018
    North American Permiere
  • 2017 Scottish Queer International Film Festival
    Glasgow
    United Kingdom
    September 23, 2017
    Scottish Premiere
  • 2017 Women Over 50 Film Festival
    Brighton
    United Kingdom
    September 16, 2017
    World Premiere
  • 2017 Leeds Queer Film Festival
    Leeds
    United Kingdom
    September 16, 2017
    English Premier
  • 2017 Queer Bee Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 19, 2017
  • 2018 AltFF Alternative Film Fest
    Barcelona
    Spain
    March 15, 2018
    Spanish Premiere
    Finalist

  • United States
  • 2022 San Fransicso Queer Film Festival
    San Francisco
    United States
    August 28, 2022
    West Coast USA premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Krissy Mahan

krissy mahan is a self-taught working class filmmaker whose work uses humor to explore contemporary issues such as accessibility, gender expression and classism. She has been amusing herself and audiences with her short movies since the mid-90s. A self-taught troublemaker, mahan lives on Lenapehoking, the traditional and current lands of the Lenni Lenape, known also as South Jersey, USA. She observes the cultural boycott in support of the Palestinian people. Mahan has lived for 50+ years in a working class post-industrial area filled with complicated family stories and ways of getting by. A passionate idealist with a flair for the fabulous, Dykeumentary films are included in international festivals, curated programs and community-based/educational settings.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

“My Aunt Mame” is an autobiographical film in which time is woven between past and present. Aunt Mame exists solely in flashbacks as a forgotten relative, ostracized from our family for being queer. Each visit marks a holiday and a different girlfriend to introduce to the family. The film’s playfulness in its composition juxtaposes its seriousness in content, mirroring my experience of caring for my mother while I was creating this film. "My Aunt Mame" is a personal and vulnerable story for me to tell.
This short is about generations of working class women getting older, my mother, and two aging lesbians, one is my Aunt Mame, and one is myself.
The intersectional issues raised in this animated short have been the defining features of my life; eldercare, aging, rising health costs with shrinking insurance coverage, the AIDS years, working class women’s lives.