OKRE connects the film, TV, and gaming industries with researchers and lived experience to create entertainment that sparks real social change
Case Study
CultureFilm

Rose's House

A terrace home in Sheffield, providing a safe space for a marginalised community of trans women.
Rose's House was one of the first underground organisations, offering crucial resources and a haven for a community of trans women in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Martine Rose wanted to provide the sorts of facilities to this community that she would have welcomed when she was coming to terms with her own identity.

This film tells the story of the life of this community of gender nonconforming women's resilience and joy in a time of fear and persecution.

How did OKRE support collaboration?

Okre supported this project because of its strong alignment with our mission to expand how real lives are represented and understood on screen. Through close collaboration with researchers, archivists, and people with lived experience, Rose’s House is grounded in rich historical context, drawing on archival materials alongside authentic stories from trans individuals and the communities they built.

The documentary is told through firsthand accounts from Martine Rose and members of Rose’s House, along with photographic and video archive footage.

How collaboration improved authenticity

Historical Contexualisation

  • By looking closer out the wider historical context of the house and Sheffield it the time, it led to a more immersive and emotionally textured approach, with a clearer sense of place and context.
  • Victoria Iglikowski-Broad (The National Archives) - guided the filmmakers through the archives that relate to gender identity, civil service policy, and cultural attitudes from the time Martine was active.

Joyful Narratives & Affirming Language

  • Through collaboration with Leila Sellers (Researcher Phd Candidate, Birkbeck) there was discussion on how to avoid generalised or reductive representations of trans life, and instead tell a story that honours the specificity and complexity of Martine’s experience.
  • The team were encouraged to move away from a trauma-centred narrative and instead focus on the joy, love, and care that Martine created. Sellers also helped the team reflect on language, suggesting an avoidance of generalised terms like “the trans community” and instead speak more accurately about the specific community Martine served.

Highlighting the wider Trans network

  • Looking at the value of connecting Martine’s story to other networks and figures from that time, helping to situate Rose’s House within a larger timeline of trans organising.
  • Gillian Murphy (LSE Trans History Archive) spoke about how Martine’s story connects to broader trans histories in the UK, helping identify useful framing and parallels. Guidance was also provided on how to situate Rose’s House within the wider landscape of cultural production, and community building.

Meet the team and collaborators

Naomi Abel-Hirsch

Documentary Director and Producer

Cat Marshall

Producer

Jane Preston

Producer

Alex Wilson

Archive Producer

Jaye Hudson

Film Programmer, Trans Historian and Actor

Leila Sellers

PhD Candidate, Birbeck University of London

Victoria Iglikowski-Broad

Diverse Histories Records Specialist

Gillian Murphy

Curator for Equality, Rights and Citizenship, LSE Library

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