Transgender issues have taken centre stage at the Venice Film Festival this year, with Italian director Emanuele Crialese even using the platform to reveal he was born a woman as he presented his new film starring Penelope Cruz. The revelation by Crialese came at a press conference for his new film, “L’Immensita”, which is inspired by his difficult adolescence. “I am never going to be like any other man... I was born biologically a woman,” Crialese said. He added that, despite his transition, there was still a “huge part of my character that is female”.

In the film, Cruz’s character attempts to protect her teenage daughter, who identifies as a boy, in a bourgeois household dominated by an abusive, unfaithful husband. It is not alone at this year’s festival in embracing artists who reject traditional gender roles or tackle issues around sexual identity. Another film in the main competition, “Monica” by Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, stars a transgender actress in the leading role—a first in 79 editions of the festival.

(From left) Italian actor Vincenzo Amato, Italian actress Luana Giuliani, Spanish actress Penelope Cruz and Italian director Emanuele Crialese pose during a photocall for the film "L'Immensita" (Immensity) presented in the Venezia 79 competition.

Trace Lysette, known for her role in Amazon Prime series “Transparent”, plays a transgender woman who returns to Ohio after a long absence to care for her dying mother. “It’s very rare that you see a script where there’s a trans character at the centre and the movie is told through her lens,” Lysette told reporters.

“Usually trans characters are more a sidebar vehicle for someone else’s story.” Besides exploring the title character’s emotional and psychological world, the movie reflects on “the precarious nature of each of our identities when faced with the need to survive and transform”, said Pallaoro. — AFP