Coby

It was July 3, 2010. Twenty-three- year-old Coby had just started his hormonal therapy and decided to publicly document his transition on YouTube. But the director is not interested in how the events developed chronologically: instead, he focuses on intertwining and comparing various time periods. He thus gets much closer to Coby´s personality since the film does not follow only Coby’s physical transformation, but also the change of perception of the world as a man. And while many trans-themed documentaries resort to an advocating tone, Christian Sonderegger´s debut speaks about transition in a truly humble and intimate manner. The fight for right of trans people alternates with a probe into the feelings and emotions brought by such a major change throughout the years. Moreover, the attentive observation of the family environment and well-structured dialogues show how the transformation not only affects the protagonist, but also significantly alters the lives of his loved ones.