At first glance, the five kids featured in Beauty don鈥檛 have a lot in common. They鈥檙e all different ages. They have different interests. Some have no siblings; one is a twin.
But Beauty 鈥� a documentary short from local director Christina Willings that makes its hometown debut at the 鈥� demonstrates that first glances can be misleading, if not downright harmful.
Beauty鈥檚 five young subjects share a fierce determination to live their true gender identities, even if that means rejecting how the cisgender, patriarchal, binary-or-bust society tells them they should exist.
And that determination in the face of a society that needs to catch up is where Beauty鈥檚 beauty lies.
Beauty 鈥� which was produced by the National Film Board of Canada 鈥� invites its viewers into the lives of Bex, Lili, Fox, Tru, and Milo. These five gender creative kids are each uniquely engaged in shaping their ideas of what it means to be fully human in a culture that has long viewed gender in rigid, binary terms: male or female, with no room to maneuver beyond the identity we鈥檙e assigned at birth.
Of course, as Beauty illustrates, the gender identity we鈥檙e assigned at birth doesn鈥檛 always reflect who we actually are.
Typically, the process of living one鈥檚 true gender begins with the child themselves, says Willings in a recent phone interview 鈥� sometimes as young as two or three years old.
This was the case for most of the kids in the film, she adds.聽
鈥淭hat they had such clarity so early, when most of us struggle for that kind of clarity about who we know ourselves to be internally, was incredibly impressive to me, and that they were supported by their families to truly be who they were, even though that was not always easy, and the families in the film have not found it easy, but they have showed up with love at the centre of all their decisions, I just really wanted to amplify that,鈥� says Willings.聽聽
The filmmaker found her subjects with assistance from 麻豆传媒映画psychologist Dr. Wallace Wong, as well as an organization serving gender creative kids in Montreal.
The process was slow and evolved organically, says Willings; once she鈥檇 been introduced to a family, she worked hard to earn their trust before there could be any possibility of filming.
鈥淪ome would say that documentary filmmaking is by its nature exploitative, [because] you鈥檙e capturing somebody鈥檚 story and exhibiting it, and [the families] wanted to understand what my perspective was, and I wholly respect that,鈥� says Willings. 鈥淢y process is very collaborative, and it鈥檚 important to me that the people who engage with me also benefit from the process.鈥�
Which illustrates another commonality between the children in Beauty: each one wanted to be heard. 鈥淎ll of the kids in the film wanted to be witnessed on this level, to exist in this way in a larger sphere,鈥� says Willings.
Thus, in Beauty, the kids drive the conversation, while their families keep to the sidelines.
They talk about bullies, and the anxiety that can come from using public bathrooms and going to school.
They talk about the fluid nature of gender, and how gender identity can ebb and flow. As Vancouver-based transgender youth advocate Tru Wilson explains in the film, the process of accepting her identity came in stages 鈥� from 30 per cent girl, to half and half, and finally, as she states, 鈥淥kay, I am 100 per cent girl鈥� But I identify as a transgender girl.鈥�
They expound on their hobbies, their dreams, and their deepest fears. (Lili鈥檚 include being laughed at, or mistaken for the wrong gender).
For Willings, the process of making Beauty 鈥渄eepened my understanding of how important it is to allow kids to tell you who they are, and to really receive them,鈥� she says. 鈥淜ids rarely really feel attended to in that way: where they can say, 鈥楾his is who I am, this is how I experience myself,鈥� and for someone on the other side to be able to attend to them and say, 鈥業 hear you. You鈥檙e the expert on your experience; how can I support you to become more of who you are?鈥欌��
Beauty has been riding the festival circuit since premiering at the TIFF Kids International Film Festival in March. Willings says the most meaningful feedback came after a festival screening in Quebec.
鈥淚 had kids coming up to me, some of whom could speak, others who were dissolving into tears, and the message they had was, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 really know what was happening and I didn鈥檛 have any language for what I was experiencing before I saw your film, and now I have a sense of who I am and I have a way to talk about it, and I might even have a way forward,鈥欌�� says Willings. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the best response one could hope for.鈥�
Beauty screens August 17 as part of The Coast is Genderqueer, VQFF鈥檚 first shorts program dedicated to local transgender, genderfluid, and non-binary stories. Details at
