She's a Boy I Knew

Filmmaker Gwen Haworth was born as Steven, the eldest of three children and the only son. From his early childhood, Steven knew that something was wrong, as he didn't think of himself as a boy, but a girl. He had nightmares in which he was rejected and abandoned, but he never spoke about his feelings and carefully kept his true identity hidden. In 2000, once he had already gotten married, everything came out, and a process started that turned his life upside down. He decided to go through with a sex change, starting with a new name and eventually undergoing hormone treatment and surgery. It was a lengthy and often arduous procedure, but ultimately Steven became Gwen. In She's a Boy I Knew, Gwen documents everything she went through in the years after her coming out. She interviews her parents, her two sisters, her wife and her best friend, who candidly explain how their initial confusion eventually changed into acceptance. Their stories are accompanied by the filmmaker's personal commentary and a mix of cheerful home movies and animation. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)