Search This Blog

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Beyond Gender communities -Sidney and friends


Sidney & Friends


Director: Tristan Aitchison

DOP: Tristan Aitchison, Zahra Moloo
Music: Paul Terry
Release:               2018
Duration: 75 min.
I always wanted to do this in a way that is not sensationalist but soft and touching, the sort of film you would want to give a hug to…that is Sidney & Friends. — Tristan Aitchison


TRAILER

http://planettransgender.com/sidney-and-friends-kenya/ 

This film is guerrilla and zero-budget. We have been able to complete the film through incredible hard work from our post-production team whom have contributed their talents and time.

REVIEW 1 -

Sidney and Friends Kenya’s Hidden Trans Community

Sidney and Friends
Coming to film festivals in 2018, “Sidney and Friends” a documentary delving into Kenya’s transgender community as never seen before.
They live in the shadows disowned by family and disconnected from community, in a constant struggle for survival yet are amazing in their love of life.
 
The making of Sidney and Friends fortuitous, to say the least. Filmmaker Tristan MG Aitchison, from the northern highlands of Scotland, felt compelled to travel to Kenya where he said that knew he’d find a story, but had no idea what it was. This is where he found the first of many of Sidney’s friends in Kenya, arguably one of the most transphobic places on earth. 
“I didn’t set out to make this film when I traveled to Kenya in 2013, but by chance, I met someone… Guillit, a transboy who wanted to be heard…” said Aitchison “I was welcomed into the small community where other filmmakers and journalists had been refused access…” 
“Some interviews were incredibly difficult. Our contributors have suffered traumatic life events and there were a number of times I had chills at what I was being told. Sidney recalls one occasion he was being beaten by a group with clubs and sticks while his mother just stood and watched.

Image result for tristan  times has your family tried to kill you  sidney and friendsThe challenges for LGBT people around the world can be very different and yet often share common themes. While there’s been unprecedented attention played to the transsexual community in the west in the past year or so, as well as converage of increasingly anti-gay attitudes in parts of Africa – what is it like to be transgender and/or intersex in Kenya?
That’s what Scottish filmmaker Tristan MG Aitchison’s Sidney & Friends accidentally set out to explore in Sidney & Friends, focussing on interviews with six members of the intersex and transgender community of Nairobi. While in western countries, many of the problems the trans* community faces involve dealing with intolerant elements of society, in Africa the issue is often that people don’t even know they exist.
El documental britànic Sidney & Friends, dirigit per Tristan Aitchinson ha estat el gran guanyador de la secció oficial del 15è Festival Internacional de Cinema Social de Catalunya que s'ha clausurat aquest diumenge a la tarda a l'Auditori Agustí Soler i Mas de Navarcles.


El documental guardonat Sidney & Friends, que tracta la història d'un jove intersexual a Kenia que ha de lluitar contra la incomprensió de la seva família, que el vol matar perquè pensa que està posseït pel dimoni, i que troba en un grup d'amics transgèneres l'autoestima, amor i un sentit de la vida. Ha recollit el premi el seu director Tristan Aitchinson, que sensiblement emocionat, ha agraït el premi i el seu missatge de denúncia i de respecte als drets humans.


REVIEW 4 - Regio7

Durant l'acte de cloenda, els premiats van poder dirigir unes paraules al públic. La majoria són de fora de Catalunya i van enviar vídeos d'agraïment. Però el britànic Tristan Aitchison va assistir a la cita i va compartir la seva història amb Regió7

«Vaig viatjar a Kenya per visitar la meva germana però no m'imaginava que em trobaria amb aquesta història. Tot va ser fruit de la casualitat», va explicar el premiat. Mentre s'emocionava, va comentar que va trobar una persona intersexual que se sentia incompresa i no tenia veu. «Tenia una càmera, un micròfon i molta curiositat per conèixer aquella història», va recordar Aitchison. Assegura que va trigar gairebé quatre anys a acabar el documental, perquè no tenia ajuts econòmics. «Però ha valgut la pena perquè ara el jove ha rebut un raig de llum d'esperança i no se sent tan sol», va afirmar el cineasta.





No comments: