G Chesler

Professor G. Chesler (pronouns they/them) directs, produces, and writes fiction and documentary films that address sexuality, the body, gender and racial justice. Their films have been exhibited at hundreds of film festivals, museums, community centers, and galleries worldwide. They teach courses in fiction directing, screenwriting, and interactive storytelling.

Prof. Chesler’s latest documentary films include Connection | Isolation witnessing trans community during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Outliers and Outlaws on the migration of hundreds of lesbian world-builders to Oregon in the 1960’-1980’s. They also Produced the feature documentary Out in the Night on a group of Black lesbian and gender divergent friends who were attacked, homophobically, and defended themselves. This was broadcast on PBS and LOGO television and screened in 70 countries through the United Nations’ Free + Equal campaign to combat homophobia and transphobia worldwide. Prof. Chesler co-edited Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from UCLA which won top awards at Blackstar and the African Academy Awards in Nigeria and featured the filmmakers of the first independent film movement by artists of color in the US. Their documentary “Period: The End of Menstruation” became a cultural touchstone on the changing meaning of menstruation when it was covered on the front page of The New York Times.

Among Prof. Chesler’s award-winning short fiction films are the queer rom coms The Pick Up and BeauteouS, and melodramas Java and Bye Bi Love. Their work as a screenwriter includes these shorts and feature film scripts. You can learn more about their films at g6pictures.com.

Prof. Chesler’s recent awards include a Regional Arts and Culture Council grant, an award from the Portland Film and Events Office, and the Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Professor Chesler is a member of the board at NW Documentary, and serves on festival and grant juries regularly. They were recently awarded a Producer’s Guild Fellowship for their work Producing a documentary feature on the healing journey of a prominent intersex activist.

Prof. Chesler’s scholarship focuses on sound, documentary, and community engaged learning. Professor Chesler’s recent essay “Antiracist Pedagogy Requires Co-Conspirators” published in the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies Teaching Dossier focuses on structural strategies for antiracist teaching practices in film and media instruction. Their interviews with parents who are educators “Parenting and Professoring in the Pandemic” appeared in Jump Cut and provides a glimpse into what educators with young children faced during restrictions supporting communal health.

Professor Chesler’s G6 Pix Instagram account features capsule reviews and news on their work G6_Pix on Instagram.

Degrees

• MFA, Cinema, San Francisco University (Most Distinguished Graduate)
• BA, Anthropology, Minor Women’s Studies, University of Virginia (with Highest Distinction)