Crossing

CROSSING is about a journey that unearths buried family issues, though from a different perspective. Young Georgian man Achi joins retired teacher Lia on a trip to Istanbul in search of her niece Tekla, whom the family rejected when she came out as trans years earlier. Much of the film’s charm comes from their odd-couple bond, conspicuously unmarked by overt transphobia. The idea of trans identity as a threat is clear, though: Achi’s boorish brother describes it as “a real tragedy for the family” while Lia recalls Tekla’s existence as “a great shame for our family”. It’s through Evrim (Deniz Dumanli), a trainee lawyer with an active dating life, that trans life comes vibrantly to the screen here. (British Film Institute)