Trans Rights Family Drama ‘Crossing’ Just Shot To the Top of Our Must-Watch List
Crossing, the latest darling from Swedish filmmaker Levan Akin has found its overseas distributor (and in this case, “overseas” includes the United States).
After premiering on February 15, 2024, amongst the 74th Berlin International Film Festival’s Panorama slate, Crossing was quickly picked up by world cinema streamer Mubi, whch will also distribute the film in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Latin America.
Starring Mzia Arabuli in the leading role, Crossing follows the journey of retired Georgian (the country in Europe, not the American state) schoolteacher Lia and her neighbor Achi, who set off on a cross-border journey to find Tekla, Lia’s long-lost trans niece who was disowned by her parents many years ago.
Their search takes them to Istanbul, where they meet Evrim, a Turkish sex worker turned legal volunteer fighting for trans rights in her country. (As you can well imagine, that’s a fight in every sense of the word.) Together, the three of them navigate the queer communities of Turkey in their search for Tekla, all the while confronting the nature of queer belonging in a world that makes it so tragically delicate.
Reviews for Crossing have been coming in hard, fast, and in favor of Akin’s latest, which is the cherry on top for a film that takes such an intimate approach to a global issue in one of its most volatile environments, and the fact that it was picked up by Mubi as fast as it was is perhaps the cherry on top of that first cherry.
Other notable works in the festival’s Panorama section include I Saw the TV Glow (starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine), the Ray Yeung-directed All Shall Be Well, the Julianne Nicholson-led Janet Planet, and The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan.
At the time of writing, it is not yet known when Crossing will find its way to screens outside of Sweden, where it’s due in theaters on March 22.
(featured image: Berlinale)
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