Country: Canada
Year: 2023
Duration: 87'
After years spent dealing with her family’s rejection, Karla Rae James, 60, is finally ready to transition from male to female. Polina Teif followed her for three years, the duration of her journey. The bond between the director and Karla allows us intimate access to a very complex process, full of pain and struggle. Showing her operations and the importance of time passing, Bittersweet Becoming is an incredible portrait of affirmation of identity and intergenerational dialogue.
Biography
film director
Polina Teif
Polina Teif (born in Minsk, 1989) lives and works in Toronto. She studied Visual Studies and Semiotics at Toronto University, and Documentary Film Production at York University. In 2019 she won the Hot Docs Pitch Prize and the Planet in Focus Green Pitch Award. One year later, she attended the EMF DocSalon and Hot Docs Accelerator Program at the Berlin IFF. She also directed the documentaries Eulogy for the Dead Sea (2022) and Bittersweet Becoming (2023).
Cast
& Credits
Sceneggiatura/Screenplay Polina Teif, Karla Rae James
Montaggio/Editing Kaisa Pitsi
Fotografia/Photography Polina Teif, Lulu Wei
Suono/Sound Deirdre Morrison
Musica/Music Cody Partridge, Pear Tree Music Music Supervision
Interpreti/Cast Karla Rae James, Dr. Ashlin Alexander, Dr. Nizar Taki, Stephen Uafas-Álainn, Mihaly Szabados, Hanlon Uafas-Álainn, Rocky, Syrus Marcus Ware
Produttore/Producer Polina Teif
Montaggio/Editing Kaisa Pitsi
Fotografia/Photography Polina Teif, Lulu Wei
Suono/Sound Deirdre Morrison
Musica/Music Cody Partridge, Pear Tree Music Music Supervision
Interpreti/Cast Karla Rae James, Dr. Ashlin Alexander, Dr. Nizar Taki, Stephen Uafas-Álainn, Mihaly Szabados, Hanlon Uafas-Álainn, Rocky, Syrus Marcus Ware
Produttore/Producer Polina Teif
