Country: USA, Qatar
Year: 2017
Duration: 80'
Fourteen-year-old J goes by the pronoun “They” and lives with their parents in the suburbs of Chicago. J is exploring their gender identity while taking hormone blockers to postpone puberty. After two years of medication and therapy, J has to make a decision whether or not to transition. Over this crucial weekend while their parents are away, J’s sister Lauren and her Iranian friend/partner Araz arrive to take care of “They.”
Biography
film director
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh (Tehran, Iran, 1989) received her BFA in film from Tehran University of Art and her MFA in studio arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. When the Kid was a Kid (2011, Iran), Needle (2013, USA) and The Baron in the Trees (2015, USA) form the trilogy of short films directed by her with children as main characters. Childhood and parenthood, family theater, and exploring notions of growth and gender identity are the main themes of these works. She is the winner of the Cinéfondation First Prize at Cannes and the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival among other awards. She was a writing fellow at the Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab in January 2013, and is also the co-writer of the acclaimed feature film Mourning by Morteza Farshbaf (2011). Her feature debut They premiered in the official selection of the 2017 Festival de Cannes.
FILMOGRAFIA
The Wind Blows Wherever It Goes (cm, 2008), When the Kid Was a Kid (cm, 2011), Needle (cm, 2013), The Baron in the Trees (cm, 2015), What Remains (cm, 2016), They (2017).
Declaration
film director
“They began in my mind like a children’s tale: there was a child, some flowers, a house, a tree, and a cat. I first saw the child alone: the parents are temporarily absent, and their older sister and her partner are on their way to take care of them. Everyone is concerned because the child in our story is different. They go by They (not He or She). They are living in a limbo, defying any clear definition of personhood. They are living a mysterious in-between phase, and the adults are waiting for them to come to clarity and maturity of adulthood; to arrive.”
Cast
& Credits
regia/director
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
fotografia/cinematography
Carolina Costa
montaggio/film editing
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, Dean Gonzalez
suono/sound
Tom Haigh
interpreti/cast
Rhys Fehrenbacher, Koohyar Hosseini, Nicole Coffineau
produttori/producers
Zoe Sua Cho, Simone Ling
produzione/production
Mass Ornament Films
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
fotografia/cinematography
Carolina Costa
montaggio/film editing
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, Dean Gonzalez
suono/sound
Tom Haigh
interpreti/cast
Rhys Fehrenbacher, Koohyar Hosseini, Nicole Coffineau
produttori/producers
Zoe Sua Cho, Simone Ling
produzione/production
Mass Ornament Films
