Crossing (in-person only)

Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankava, Deniz Dumanlı

A retired Georgian teacher sets out to reunite with her estranged trans niece in Istanbul in Crossing, the tender, stirring new film from director Levan Akin (The Circle, And Then We Danced) and winner of the Teddy Award Jury Prize for LGBTQ-themed films at the Berlin Film Festival.

Retired teacher Lia (Mzia Arabuli) promised her dying sister that she would seek out her daughter, Lia’s long lost niece Tekla. Together with cocky young Achi (Lucas Kankava), who offers to be her guide, she sets off for Turkey to search for Tekla in Istanbul’s trans community. But locating someone who never intended to be found is harder than Lia thought. Can Evrim (Deniz Dumanlı), a tough, street-smart lawyer fighting for trans rights, and who’s currently in the process of completing her own transition, help them?

Following on from Akin’s breakout feature And Then We Danced, a story of gay self-discovery amid the rigid gender codes of a traditional Georgian dance company, Crossing takes another look at queer identity in an unaccommodating environment, offering an affirmation of trans solidarity. A bright, sweet, warm and novelistic drama, it draws on Akin’s dual ancestry to explore changing perspectives, cultural and intergenerational divides and the possibilities of personal transformation, as the action shifts from the wild Black Sea coast of Georgia to the vibrant cityscapes of Istanbul.