Write a short summary of what happens in the film

The film,‘The Mirror’, opens during the kite festival. While families are on the terraces, , a young boy is seen dejected and opts out of playing. He sneaks off downstairs,happy to find himself alone finally. He drapes himself in a woman’s scarf, puts on lipstick, and smiles as he sees his reflection in a mirror. Moments later,his mother and his grandmother catch him dancing. The music track stops, and the women stare at the boy. Few seconds of dread pass by and suddenly the women smile and join him. The film shows us the mirror to our own uglyselves,how horrific our expectations and the “normalisation” of violence towards trans children is. The child is not beaten or expelled from the family,yet we assume he will be. In the shock twist where he is celebrated for who he is, we give trans children hope of of a humane and uplifting reality.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Children feel distressed when their gender identity differs from the sex they were given at birth as what they experience clashes with their own reality, so much so that they can start closeting as early as age of 2. This impacts children’s growth negatively. LGBTIQ children are more likely to drop out of school, run away from home, face physical, mental and sexual abuse, and more likely to harm themselves. At 41% trans kids have the highest rate of suicide attempts across the world. The problem starts at home, starts with parents and its starts early, yet no one speaks about trans children. We needed a tool that holds up a mirror – to parents of transgender children and to society in general. It is only when we envision a new, more humane world, can we begin to create it.