Now mainstreaming: queer phenomenology, techno, and the transnational in 'Beat' and 'Futur Drei'

As queer television and film become central to streaming providers, it raises questions about the relationship between the “transnational” and the “mainstream.” This chapter argues for a differentiation between uses of “transnational,” and suggests that queer and postmigrant works in particular challenge such categories. Sara Ahmed’s queer phenomenology and work on Black women’s internationalism suggest the importance of transnational engagements that center queer and postmigrant voices and collectivity over global mobility or flows of finance. I contrast Amazon Prime series 'Beat' (Marco Kreuzpaintner, 2018) with 'Futur Drei' (No Hard Feelings, Faraz Shariat, 2020), an independent film by queer of color collective Jünglinge. Whereas 'Beat' draws on transnational funding, multinational production, and global streaming distribution, it shows queer storylines as irritants or blockages in the flow of mainstream genres. It critiques the Berlin club scene’s mainstream status and shows clubs bound up in exploitative flows of people and capital. 'Futur Drei', by contrast, is locally grounded in Hildesheim but draws on collective organizing and centers queer postmigrant perspectives on Germany. Mainstream pop culture here has potential to bring together queers internationally, as characters and filmmakers reimagine a small city as a site of transnational queer creativity and activism.