Coming to NYC’s JCC Manhattan CineMatters series tonight, Tuesday, March 1: THE GOOD SON
Shirly Berkowitz’s portrait of a transgender woman’s unorthodox transition made its bow at IDFA in 2013. The film went on to screen at Thessaloniki Doc, Planete+ Doc, DocsBarcelona, Myanmar Human Rights, and Jewish fests in Washington, Maine, and Australia, among others.
Ever feeling an outcast, Or, a young Israeli man, finally comes to the realization of her transgender identity. Faced with conservative parents and lacking in funds to have gender reassignment surgery in Bangkok, she makes the desperate decision to fake an acceptance letter to Oxford University in order to scam the financial support from her proud mother and father – secretly filming all the while. Turning to Berkowitz to help shape the very rough material, and to accompany her as a friendly face in Thailand, the director continues filming, capturing Or’s physical transformation and gradual blossoming in her new identity. Pivotally, Berkowitz also follows her subject back to Israel where she must face her fears to confront her family, admit her subterfuge, and make amends, which helps redeem a subject and a project with decidedly problematic ethics.
what (not) to doc 