Alice Maio Mackay on the new wave of transgender cinema

The Curb

At just twenty years old, transgender wunderkind Alice Maio Mackay has crafted a filmography that would make most seasoned professionals envious. Alice's filmography is built within a defiantly independent space that centres queer stories on screen. From 2021's short film The Serpent's Nest, to the run of genre defying horror and sci-fi feature films that includes 2021's So Vam, 2022's Bad Girl Boogey, 2023's T-Blockers and Satranic Panic, and 2024's Carnage for Christmas, Alice has showed other filmmakers the possibilities of independent cinema within Australia.

Alice follows in the footsteps of fellow Aussie trans filmmaker Dee McLachlan, who made a name for herself with the 2007 film The Jammed and the acclaimed series Wentworth, paving a way for fellow trans filmmakers in Australia and across the world. With her own distinct style of filmmaking, Alice has inspired and worked with fellow trans filmmakers like Vera Drew (The People's Joker) and Louise Weard (Castration Movie). Trans critic Willow Catelyn Maclay called this trio of filmmakers the 'Three Headed Hydra of Edgy Doll Cinema' and it's their collective filmography that is shaping what modern trans storytelling looks like in cinema.

If you haven't already picked up Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema by Willow and fellow critic Caden Mark Gardner, then make sure to do so. It is one of the vital books about queer cinema.

In the following interview, Alice talks about kicking off her career as a filmmaker in Kaurna-Adelaide, growing up on a diet of Buffy and Keeping Up Appearances, while also talking about the fun of making an Australian Christmas film and working alongside non-binary actor Zarif, who has also made a name for themselves as they help shape what Australian queer cinema looks like on screen.

There's a notion of communal friendship that exists within Buffy that can be felt as a connective thread of Alice's work. It's a foundational aspect of T-Blockers, which sees a small town overrun by parasites that turn everyday men into horrifying, possessed hosts that spew literal bile, hatred, and violence, threating the local queer community. T-Blockers is a wickedly subversive film that engages in politics and queer identity, while also showing the possibilities of independent genre filmmaking.

Alice's work can be found on Shudder or Vinegar Syndrome (T-Blockers, Carnage for Christmas), and all good places where you can rent films.

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