TRANSGENDER PARENTS (Rémy Huberdeau). See listings. Rating: NNN
This tender doc, presented by Cinema Politica in collaboration with the LGBTQ Parenting Network, DOC Toronto and Point of View Magazine, offers a groundbreaking look at the experience of trans parents.
First-time feature director Rémy Huberdeau gives voice to a diverse collection of trans people, some who transitioned after they had families, some who parented during and after transitioning and many who are active in Toronto’s trans community.
They all have fascinating stories and points of view. Syrus, for example, went through what sounds like a hormonal reversal in order to become a parent – an emotional challenge for him. Aiyyana describes her pleasure at becoming a grandmother and promotes a fluid definition of gender.
Hershel, who transitioned after becoming a parent and has a strong relationship with his son Lee, describes in beautifully self-aware ways how he may have underestimated the impact of his personal changes on his son.
Huberdeau shoots families in their everyday lives – cooking, getting ready for bed – as part of his strategy to normalize his very engaging subjects’ situations. And some of the testimony – especially Syrus’s partner Nik’s description of the birth of their child – will be familiar to any parent who’s witnessed those spectacular moments when a partner gives birth.
As a whole, though, Transgender Parents is like no movie you’ve ever seen.
Huberdeau and the doc’s participants attend the screening Tuesday (November 4), 6:30 pm, at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See listings.
