Tangerine
July 24, 2025
This refreshingly hilarious and raunchy comedy follows scrappy transgender prostitute besties Sin-Dee and Alexandra on a wild night in L.A. filled with sassy repartee ("Merry Christmas Eve, bitch"), adultering pimps, nightclub debuts, and capital "d" D-RAMA!
Screening for Art House Theater Day.
Transgender besties Sin-Dee and Alexandra (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor) are having a reunion. Sin-Dee has just returned from a 28-day stint in prison and is on the hunt for her boyfriend (and pimp) Chester, last rumored to be sleeping with a girl who has "like, vagina and everything." Alexandra doesn't need this drama, as she is busy trying to drum up an audience for her big cabaret debut. Meanwhile, an Armenian cab driver (Karren Karagulian) patrols the neighborhood, picking up fares, and maybe a little something extra. Yep, it's just another Christmas Eve in West Hollywood. TANGERINE is a bubbly, sassy slice of life that is part John Waters and part Duplass Brothers (who co-produced). Director Sean Baker's innovative production was filmed entirely on an iPhone 5s, which not only looks astounding, but allowed for unobtrusive, street-level intimacy. TANGERINE is fierce and sweet, farcical and tender, and features fully realized transgender characters that are complex, real, and able to toss off classic dialogue that will be repeated for years. Merry Christmas, bitch.
- Director: Sean Baker
- Principal Cast: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan, Alla Tumanyan
- Country: USA
- Year: 2015
- Running Time: 89 min.
- Producer: Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou, Marcus Cox, Karrie Cox, Sean Baker
- Screenplay: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch
- Cinematographers: Radium Cheung, Sean Baker
- Editors: Sean Baker
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Magnolia Pictures