A film about transgender sex workers shot entirely on iPhone 5s may sound like an exploitative niche experiment. But Sean Baker’s new film is anything but, exploring the occasionally gritty, often titillating lives of trans women hustling on the streets of a grimy Los Angeles. It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back on the block after a month in jail. Sin-Dee and best friend Alexandra (Mya Taylor) have to track down her pimp and boyfriend Chester (James Ransone), who has been stepping out behind her back - and with a cis woman (known as a ‘fish’), no less. Together, their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through LA’s various subcultures as they navigate a dizzying array of characters, cops and fellow prostitutes in the hunt for Chester.

Tangerine is an intimate, hilarious, and surprisingly poignant portrait of fascinating American lives that usually remain unseen. Told with simplicity but deep empathy, Baker’s film sports a refreshingly sober, grown-up worldview that refuses to judge, sensationalise, or do anything other than show lives as they are. Vanity Fair put it best when they called it “a beautifully filmed, swooningly scored, gracefully performed small wonder of a movie.” Unflinching and entertaining, it’s a hot, strong breath of fresh air. Enjoy.

• The screening of Tangerine on Tue 24 Nov are part of our Cinébites deal: Get 30% off any main dish in the Café/Bar with a valid cinema ticket.

We’re getting a new kitchen in December

Throughout December the builders will be in to fit our new kitchen. We will still have a Soups and Sharing Platters menu and the bar will be open as usual but as the kitchen will be closed Cinebites is going to take a month’s break. Find out more here, including details of the schedule of work. Thank you for your patience in advance.

---