The Rubbish team is pleased to announce that we have been accepted to the Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program. This includes fiscal sponsorship, and the organization’s 501(c)(3) status allows Rubbish to receive charitable deductible contributions from individuals—a major incentive for individuals considering making a donation to our project. Visit our page here.

AX Mina, director/producer of Rubbish, has been selected as a 2024 Fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Trans Possibilities Intensive.

Developed and led by Moi Santos, Manager for the Equity, Impact, and Belonging Program, the Intensive will provide guidance from experienced creative advisors, who include Zackary Drucker (The Stroll), River Gallo (Ponyboi), Lyric Cabral (P.O.V.), and Roberto Fatal (Do Digital Curanderas Use Eggs in Their Limpias?).

We’re honored to share that portions of Rubbish are included in The Fearless Art Practice of Leilah Babirye, a new short film about Leilah’s work produced for the exhibition of Leilah Babirye: We Have a History, curated by Natasha Becker, the inaugural curator of African art at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.

Congratulations to artist Leilah Babirye for two incredible shows — Obumu (Unity) at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and four works at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa.

We had an incredible time at the Athena Film Festival Documentary Pitch Program at Barnard College, where Rubbish: The Queer Kingdom of Leilah Babirye was one of four film projects selected for this intensive. The program involved 1:1 calls, group workshops and some focused sessions around loglines, lead images and pitch narrative.

I received mentorship from Peabody Award-winning filmmaker/teacher/Co-Founder of Chicken & Egg Picture, Judith Helfand, along with cohort support from fellow filmmakers Zippy Kimundu and Heather Courtney (Widow Champion); Anna Clare Spelman and Bridgette Cyr (Meant to Be Maddie); and Emily Harrold and Robin Hessman (Sister Senators).