Director Portfolio
Explore Short films by Hansen Bursic
Hansen Bursic
Hansen Bursic is an award-winning filmmaker and LGBTQ+ rights activist based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With experience working for an LGBT+ non-profit and growing up queer right outside of Pittsburgh PA, Hansen is committed to telling transparent, meaningful stories through the complex identities many LGBT+ characters have. Hansen’s work has explored a variety of social issues like transgender rights, rural representation, and youth empowerment all through personal, character focused short films.
AWARDS
Hansen has accepted multiple awards during his career as a filmmaker and activist. Most recently, his film “The Toothmans” won the Relationship First Award from the Foundation for The Contemporary Family & The My Hero Project and a Best Documentary Award from the Lancaster International Short Film Festival. Hansen also received the Brandon Bittner Memorial Award for outstanding student activism in 2016 from The Pennsylvania Youth Congress.
AFFILIATIONS
Hansen is currently enrolled at Temple University in the Bachelors of Fine Arts Directors program. He is the Lead Media Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Youth Congress a statewide LGBT+ advocacy non-profit. Hansen is also a contributor for QueerPGH, Pittsburgh’s only queer e-magazine.
Articles
Articles written by or about Hansen Bursic

July 27 2018 – Temple news
Film student’s documentary about a rural transgender teenager’s transition shows at international LGBTQ film festival
Hansen Bursic was at work the day he received a congratulatory email notifying him his documentary “The Toothmans” had been accepted into San Francisco-based Frameline42, the largest and oldest LGBTQ film festival in the world.
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June 14 2018 – Philadelphia Gay News
Student director screens trans youth documentary set in rural PA
At 20 years old, queer filmmaker and activist Hansen Bursic will be one of the youngest directors in attendance this weekend when his award-winning documentary “The Toothmans” screens at the nation’s oldest…
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June 6 2018 – Pennlive.com
Documentary film about transgender youth living in rural Pa., selected for film festival
A documentary film about the experiences of a transgender teenager set against a rural Pennsylvania backdrop has been selected for screening at a national LGBT film festival.
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August 10 2017 – Queerpgh.com
Battleground Pennsylvania: Boyertown High School
Pennsylvania is a weird state. Whether it’s the raging debate on whether Sheetz or Wawa is the better convenience store or the commonly-shared hatred of PennDOT, most Pennsylvanians will admit that we are…
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January 2 2018 – Queerpgh.com
Will The Repeal of Net Neutrality Spell the End of QueerPGH?
Thursday the 14th of December was a terrible day. I am a film student and it was finals week, so I was sitting in a classroom watching everyone’s rushed film projects. My peers may be extremely talented people, but we were…
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