in between

Films about transgender people often follow a simple dramaturgy. Someone feels strange in their own body, wants to adapt their outer appearance to their inner feelings and after the operation everything is in balance and fine. Rikke Kutzenberger´s documentary in between sets out in a refreshing, new direction: for four years she follows the daily lives of two people who feel themselves in between, unwilling to fit into any of the pre-given gender roles.

"If I were to live in a culture in which transsexuals had a different status, would I still need the hormones?" Despite such doubts Si-Phi (previously Silvia) goes through a sex change involving hormone therapy and surgery; a decision not made easier by his mother from the Austrian countryside. She still breaks into tears when she says that "her girl" wants to become a man. Si-Phi is strong though and at the end he has no regrets but admits: "the breasts are gone, but I don´t feel any more male than before". Gina (previously Georg) travels from Vienna to Mexico to submerge in the world of the "muxes" (physical men who live as women and are generally accepted as such). First time she went over there it was a mind blowing experience that strengthened her will to keep away from hormones and be a woman in a male body. This time however Gina encounters conflict, which makes her rethink her own gender identity.

in between encourages greater openness to the strictly bipolar categories: "man" and "woman". It is a rather cheerful and optimistic film portraying two people who draw on a good portion of self irony to help them through a difficult day to day existence. It is exciting to see that Judith Butler´s complex gender theory has meanwhile so pragmatically made its way into everyday life.

(Karin Cerny)

Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt