Jake Graf is an English actor, screenwriter, director, and transgender rights activist. Graf specialises in short films dealing with transgender issues in an effort to normalise queer and trans experiences to a wider, more mainstream audience. Many of Graf's films emphasise the daily lived experiences of trans men.
Early life From the age of two, Graf knew that he was different from other kids. As a young child, he was very vocal about his feelings and tried telling anyone who would listen that he was a boy. Graf spent much of his youth "trying my best just to 'pass' as male". He has repeatedly talked about the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in the media. Graf believed he "was the only person in the world that felt like he did" and did not know trans men existed until he was nearly 16. This lack of representation that he experienced as a young person made him feel "lonely and isolated". He decided to start transitioning in 2008 at the age of 28. With the emotional and financial support of his mother, Graf started hormone treatment.
Career Graf's first work within the industry was a screenplay dealing with his experiences as a trans man in making a female-to-male transition. In 2015 Graf visited the White House to take part in a Q&A and viewing of the film The Danish Girl with U.S. president Barack Obama. That year, he became the first trans man to appear on the cover of QX magazine and, in the following year, was featured on the covers of GNI, LGBT Weekly, and FTM Magazine. In 2015 Graf was one of 101 people nominated for a Rainbow Award, which recognises prominent LGBT+ people in Britain. The nomination acknowledges Graf's work in raising awareness of trans and queer issues through film. Alongside nominations for his work, Graf has been included in judge positions for festivals and award ceremonies. In 2019 he took a chair in the Iris Prize Jury, an LGBTQ+ film festival. Three years later, Graf also became a judge in the 2022 National Diversity Awards.
Personal life Graf is married to Hannah Winterbourne. The couple went on a date on 30 December 2015 after being introduced by a mutual friend. After three years of dating and receiving Winterbourne's father's blessing, Graf proposed in New York in September 2017. Their wedding took place on 23 March 2018 at Chelsea Old Town Hall in London. Approximately six years after starting transitioning, Graf decided to have his eggs frozen so that he would have the opportunity to have children in the future. In April 2020, their daughter was born via surrogate. Two years later, the couple announced the birth of their second child in June 2022. The 2020 documentary Our Baby: A Modern Miracle on Channel 4 covered their experience as transgender parents. Coronet Books published a memoir by the couple, titled Becoming Us, in 2023.
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes2011X-WHYSamShort film; also director and producerShown at 2012 BFI London Film FestivalShortlisted for 2012 Iris Prize2012CocktaleBrianAlso writer and directorShort Film Iris Prize Nominee 20122015BraceAdamShort film; also writerThe Danish GirlHenriChanceYob in ParkShort film; also director and producer2016DawnShort film; writer and director2017DuskShort film; writer and directorHeadspaceShort film; writer and director2018ColetteGaston Arman de Caillavet
Television YearTitleRoleNotesNetwork2017Spectrum LondonJames Roche8 episodes Web seriesDifferent for GirlsClaudeEpisode: "Mythical Amazon"2018ButterflyJamesEpisode #1.22021DoctorsOlly BrockhurstEpisode: "Deadname"BBC One2022McDonald & DoddsPathologist Episode: "Belvedere"BritBox
Awards and nominations
YearAssociationCategoryWorkResult2015Outflix Film FestivalBest Foreign ShortChance2016Best Foreign ShortDawn2016Oxford Film Festival, Mississippi, USABest LBGTQ FilmChance2016SENE Film, Music and Art FestivalBest LGBT ShortChance2016Stamped Pensacola LGBT Film FestivalBest Short FilmBoys on Film: Time & Tied2017Changing Face International Film FestivalBest Short DramaDusk2017El Lugar Sin LimitesBest Short FilmDusk2017FilmOut San DiegoBest International Short FilmDusk2017Glitter AwardsBest Short FilmDusk2017Indianapolis LGBT Film FestivalBest of FestivalDusk2017Louisville LGBT Film FestivalShort FilmDusk2017Macon Film FestivalBest LGBT ShortDusk2017Miami Gay and Lesbian Film FestivalBest ShortDusk2017North Carolina Gay and Lesbian Film FestivalBest Trans International ShortDusk2017Out & Loud - Pune International Queer Film FestivalBest Short FilmDusk2017OUT at the Movies Int'l LGBT Film FestBest Short FilmDusk2017Out Here Now: the Kansas City LGBT Film FestivalBest Dramatic Short Dusk2017Outflix Film FestivalBest Foreign Short Dusk2017SENE Film, Music and Art FestivalBest LGBT ShortDuskLGBT ShortDusk2017Shropshire Rainbow Film FestivalBest British Short FilmDusk2017Translations: The Seattle Transgender Film FestivalBest Narrative ShortDusk
See also List of transgender film and television directors
External links
References