April 02, 2024

SIU hosts virtual discussion on ‘Queerness and Television’ April 9

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Award-winning filmmakers Joey Soloway and Silas Howard will discuss bringing queer, trans and LGTBQ+ identities to the screen during their virtual presentation at Southern Illinois University Carbondale on Tuesday, April 9.

soloway_howard_april-3-2024_3pm_v2-002.pngThe free discussion, “Queerness and Television,” is at 3 p.m. in the Communications Building Northlight Studio, Room 1251, or virtually via Zoom.

Soloway’s comedy-drama series, “Transparent,” based on their mother’s late-in-life transition, has earned several Emmy nominations and two primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.

Howard is a writer, actor and director who got his start in Hollywood making experimental, era-defining queer films like “By Hook or By Crook.” Howard began directing “Transparent” episodes during the second season, making him the show’s first trans director. Howard’s career includes directing and co-producing “Pose,” an FX show that received an Emmy nomination in 2019 for Outstanding Drama Series.

The event is part of Queer Narratives, a hybrid media studies, creative writing, and queer theory course taught by Heather M. O’Brien-Takahashi and Rafael Frumkin. O’Brien-Takahashi is an assistant professor in cinema and interdisciplinary media in the School of Media Arts, and Frumkin is an assistant professor of creative writing in the School of Literature, Writing and Digital Humanities

The event is sponsored by the School of Media Arts, the SIU Fine Arts Activity Fee and Rainbow Café.