Bend Film Festival - One More Post

A couple of nights ago, I watched the winner of the Best Documentary award, “ANIMA: My Father’s Dresses”.  This film is about a German family.  The father was in an accident and died at a fairly young age (50ish?).  On his deathbed, the mother informed the two daughters that the father was a transvestite.  Occasionally, he felt a strong urge to dress up as a woman.  He commonly would travel to Munich, don a wig, a dress, high heels, makeup and lipstick.  He would walk around pedestrian areas of Munich.  It wasn’t that he wanted to live as a woman, he just wanted to dress up as one sometimes.

One day, the mother discovered a blouse in their bedroom that she didn’t recognize.  Neither daughter knew anything about the blouse.  The father confessed to the mother.  The mother adored the father and thought he was a great father and a great person, so she never considered leaving him and breaking up the family.  She kept the father’s secret and even accompanied him on some of his trips to Munich.

The oldest daughter (Ulrika) had similar gender identity issues, however she was open about her issues.  She never wanted to dress in frilly girly clothes, she much preferred shirts and pants.  Ulrika felt her options and career choices were limited as a woman.  She never considered becoming a man, but she wanted to be treated like a man.

Ulrika produced and directed this film.  During the film, she expressed the wish that she had known of her father’s desires and been able to talk to him about her issues.  Ulrika learned of the father’s secret on his deathbed, however he was in a coma and never recovered.

During his life, the father was deeply ashamed of his issues.  He was a teacher and worried about what would happen to his career if he was ever discovered.  He knew of others who had gender identity issues and they were involuntarily placed in psychiatric institutions.  He never felt that he had the option of confessing his issues.  

I liked this movie, but didn’t love it.  The big surprises in this movie were introduced in the first 5-10 minutes of the 90 minutes.  After the beginning of the movie, the story was expanded and details were added, but they were minor in comparison to the original surprises.  In contrast, my two favorite documentaries (“Dusty and Bones” and “Tell Them I Love You”) both had surprises spread throughout the movie.  In fact, it seemed like the surprises got bigger as the movie went on.  I found them both to be more engaging.  

Once again, I am wondering about the awards process.  It will be interesting to see the Audience awards which come out at the end of the week or early next week.