Doha Film Institute
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Through the prism of J, a gender-expansive teenager going through puberty suppression, ‘They’ explores notions of in-between-ness, whether of gender, cultural identity, or the idea(s) of “home”.
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 maybe/maybe-not Iranian partner Araz arrive to take care of J. During this time together, J, Lauren and Araz form an intimate family unit. Each character is in a state of suspension, of being in-between, of not belonging. J voices what all three feel: a reluctance to change, a desire to remain in childhood where innocence is still possible even as it recedes into the distance.

Credits

Director
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
Screenwriter
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
Producer
Zoe Sua Cho, Simone Ling
Production Company
Mass Ornament Films

About the Director

Anahita Ghazvinizadeh
Anahita Ghazvinizadeh received her BFA in Film from the Tehran University of Art and her MFA in Studio Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Among other awards, she has won the Cinéfondation First Prize at the Festival de Cannes and the Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival. She was selected as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Filmmaking by ‘Filmmaker’ maga
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