LGBTQ Short Film Screening: Elijah (2024)

Join us for a screening of the LGBTQ short film, Elijah. Screening of the film will be followed by a discussion with filmmaker Razid Season and trans advocate Jillian Celentano, and audience Q&A. ELIJAH follows Haider, a Bengali Muslim taxi driver in New York City whose faith in the American Dream is being tested by grueling work, financial uncertainty, and a changing city. At home, he faces an even more personal transformation when his child, Shoshi, comes out as transgender. As Haider struggles to reconcile his past beliefs with his love for his son, he must confront prejudice within his community and decide how far he will go to protect his child. ELIJAH is an intimate story about family, faith, immigrant identity, acceptance, and the courage to stand beside the people we love. Razid Season Razid Season is an award-winning independent filmmaker, writer, director, and founder of Image Maker Films Inc., a New York-based nonprofit organization. His films explore identity, discrimination, and human dignity. Through filmmaking and community screenings, he promotes cultural understanding, equality, and social inclusion. Jillian Celentano, MSW, LCSW Jillian is a transgender woman who began her transition in 2016 at age 55. She is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, educator, and advocate for the transgender and gender-expansive community. She has organized and facilitated support groups for transgender individuals of all ages, served as a research assistant in an LGBTQ+ Relationships Studies Lab, and co-authored two published studies at Yale University. Jillian is Co-Chair of the Agency on Aging, a board member at Griffin Hospital, and author of Transitioning Later in Life: A Personal Guide . She also serves as a medical educator and Standardized Patient at Yale and Quinnipiac Universities and helped develop a medical training program focused on providing affirming care to transgender patients. Jillian currently works in private practice, specializing in supporting transgender and gender-expansive individuals.