SYNOPSIS

Phong grew up in a small town in Central Vietnam as the youngest of six siblings. From an early age, Phong felt like a girl trapped in a boy’s body. It was only after moving to Hanoi to attend university at age 20 that Phong realized she was not alone in this experience. Her dream of “finding herself” through gender transition came true a few years later.

The film tells the story of Phong’s struggle during these years, featuring excerpts from her private video diaries, as well as meetings with family, friends, and doctors – all of whom must come to accept her determination to become a complete young woman.

CREDIT

Director: Trần Thị Phương Thảo

Born in 1977 in Hanoi, Vietnam, she moved to France in 2000 to pursue her dream of becoming a documentary filmmaker. After graduating in Political Science in Paris, she studied documentary filmmaking techniques and screenwriting at the University of Poitiers.

Returning to Vietnam, she joined the Varan Vietnam workshop, where she directed the film Workers Dream (Giấc mơ là công nhân), which participated in many international film festivals and won the P. Perrault Award at Cinéma du Réel in 2007.

ABOUT DIRECTOR

Genre: Documentary

Production: Nicole Pham

Cinematography: Swann Dubus, Trần Phương Thảo, Lê Anh Phong

Sound: Hoàng Thu Thuỷ, Franck Desmoulins

Editing: Aurelie Ricard

CLIPS

PHOTOS

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