When asked about how the Trump administration’s attacks on queer rights may affect their films going forward, “I Saw the TV Glow” director Jane Schoenbrun recognized the major political implications of the current moment, but says there are higher priorities than “trying to react.”
“Hopefully [my directing] won’t change much,” Schoenbrun told Variety‘s Marc Malkin at the Independent Spirit Awards red carpet Sunday in Santa Monica, Calif. “Hopefully as an artist, you’re reading the vibe around you and you’re filtering that into what you make. But also, whether you’re an artist or not, queer people just need to be living and loving and being themselves. That’s probably the more important thing than trying to react.”
Schoenbrun, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, was in attendance for their film “I Saw the TV Glow.” The A24 release led this year’s Indie Spirit nominations, tying with Sean Baker’s “Anora” at six apiece. The nods included Justice Smith in the lead acting category and Schoenbrun in best director and screenplay. The film follows a teenager Owen (Smith) who forms a special connection with another student (Jack Haven) after becoming obsessed with a teen television show.
While Smith “knew the film was special” during filming, he wasn’t sure “if people would get it,” particularly as an allegory for transgender identity. Now, reflecting on the year since the film first premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, “It’s about the people that have come up to me and messaged me in my DMs telling me how much this film means to them and how many times they saw it.”
For Schoenbrun, the experience of young queer people connecting with the film has been particularly emotional: “People come up crying and shaking. It’s clearly a movie that [prompts] the experience that I had with a lot of the art that was important to me when I was young, which is making them feel a little less alone. It’s a special thing to be able to do.”
When asked about the Trump administration’s attacks on trans rights, Smith shared a pessimistic view on the future: “We’re fucked.”
Schoenbrun didn’t shy away from expressing how “the scariest thing is seeing corporate America sort of embrace fascism a little bit more than they did last time, and everybody [being] eager to work together to keep making money.”
While Smith isn’t confident that people who don’t look like him will want to empathize with his lived experiences, he sees the impact of being in projects like “I Saw the TV Glow.”
“I wake up every morning and I feel like that’s a radical act,” Smith explained. “I pursue my own joy as a Black, queer person in a public space. … What’s most important is that people who are like me see me living life, being happy and pursuing joy in the face of so much hate and are inspired to do the same.”