I don’t watch as many documentaries as I should in my everyday viewing life, which is why I try to seek out a few titles of interest at every Tribeca Film Festival. In particular, I aim to watch documentaries that open my eyes to how people different from myself live in their everyday lives. This year’s festival introduced me to a trio of transgender high school athletes in the United States and a group of aspiring chefs in Bolivia. Both films offered compelling glimpses into worlds previously unknown to me and left me feeling better off for having seen them.
Changing the Game – Michael Barnett
Directed by Michael Barnett, Changing the Game is an incredibly moving documentary that follows three high school athletes who also happen to be transgender. Sarah is a skier in New Hampshire, a state that allows her to compete under the gender she identifies as rather than the gender on her birth certificate; as one school official notes when describing that state’s policy, how can you tell kids that they are one gender during their everyday life and then make them switch to another when they do after-school sports? The same goes for Andraya, a budding track star in Connecticut, who races alongside other women. However, Mack, a wrestler in Texas, must compete under the gender listed on his birth certificate.
This means Mack is forced to wrestle girls despite living his life as a man, using male pronouns and taking testosterone to aid his transition. When Mack goes undefeated and wins his second straight state championship, he makes headlines across the country – both good and bad. On one hand, Mack is celebrated as a hero who is living his truth and pursuing what he loves. On the other hand, many argue that he shouldn’t be allowed to wrestle and that by taking testosterone, he has an unfair advantage. Never mind that, if Mack had his own way, he would definitely wrestle guys; after all, he is one! But the state of Texas refuses to accept this.
Andraya encounters similar controversies as she racks up medals in track; parents of other runners argue that she has an unfair physiological advantage over the other girls and should run with the boys. One particularly vehement onlooker refuses to accept that anyone who hasn’t had to run a race on their period should be able to run with women, as though experiencing the menstrual cycle is the only thing that defines one’s womanhood. These prejudiced attitudes are why Sarah devotes her free time – when she isn’t skiing or making YouTube videos with her friends – to helping push through policies that outlaw discrimination based on gender identity.
Mack, Sarah and Andraya are all surrounded by incredibly supportive and proud family members and coaches, all of whom have come to the same conclusion: this issue has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with supporting someone they love. Mack’s grandmother, a conservative gun-toting sheriff’s deputy, is particularly remarkable as she goes against every stereotype to describe why she supports her grandson in his efforts to live his truth. Yet despite these strong support networks, the emotional distress that comes from gender dysphoria and the bullying they receive both online and in person takes a toll on these kids; immense personal strength is required in order to survive. And that’s just on top of the regular stress of being a high schooler!
As someone who runs and previously had mixed feelings over the concept of transgender athletes competing under their identity, Changing the Game was a literal game-changer for me. It is impossible to not be moved by Mack, Sarah, and Andraya and their personal stories of struggle and success. For them, sports are a way for them to channel their energy into something positive and worthwhile; it’s heartbreaking that so many people would want to deny them that opportunity based on their gender identity. Equal parts inspirational and infuriating, Changing the Game reminds us that transgender kids are in fact just kids, and deserve to be accepted as such – at home, in the classroom, and on the playing field.
A Taste of Sky – Michael Lei
Directed by Michael Lei, A Taste of Sky throws open the doors of Gustu, a fine-dining restaurant and cooking school launched by Claus Meyer in Bolivia’s capital city of La Paz. Meyer is the godfather of the Nordic cuisine as we know it and the founder of Noma, a Copenhagen restaurant consistently ranked among the best in the world. Meyer’s focus has always been on using local ingredients and highlighting local culture in his cooking; his goal for Gustu is to teach young Bolivians from underprivileged backgrounds to do the same, turning their country into a gastronomy destination and improving their own opportunities for the future.
Bolivia might be the most impoverished country in South America, but it also has some of the richest and most diverse agricultural products, making it a prime location for the kind of hyper-local gastronomy that Meyer made famous in his native Denmark. A Taste of Sky introduces us to two students at Gustu – Kenzo, a hunter raised in the Bolivian Amazon who dreams of opening his own restaurant highlighting Amazonian cuisine, and Maria Claudia, a native of the Andean altiplano who goes against familial expectations when she decides to subvert traditional gender roles and seek out a career as a chef. Both of them are intriguing and honest protagonists who don’t shy away from discussing the more difficult aspects of their personal journeys, including moving far away from their families to pursue their dreams.
Meyer faces skepticism from some Bolivians who view the Gustu project as a form of colonialism, with Meyer as the white savior leading the gastronomy revolution. A Taste of Sky addresses these concerns but seems to disagree with them; whether or not you do as well as entirely up to your own interpretation. I will say that the film’s interviews with Meyer, which are conducted with his young daughter as the questioner, delve deep into his own journey as a chef and explore his personal motivations for launching Gustu in a way that made me honestly feel that Meyer viewed Gustu as his own unique form of philanthropy, a way to help others find their way in the same way that his own personal mentors in the cooking world helped him. As the film’s closing titles inform us, Meyer and his business associates have since left the project, meaning that Gustu is now 100% Bolivian owned and run and continuing to graduate students who are going on to open their own restaurants and work in others. If that was truly Meyer’s goal, one can definitely say he has succeeded.
I do wish that A Taste of Sky had focused more on the day-to-day work in the restaurant and the cooking school, as opposed to the overarching project; scenes in which Maria Claudia workshops a new dish she has invented with one of Gustu’s teachers provide a fascinating look into the rarefied fine-dining world and, in particular, the way the Noma philosophy can be applied not just to Nordic cooking, but to cultures all around the world. Gustu is an ambitious and unique project and I would have appreciated more insights into how it actually operates. A Taste of Sky prefers to focus on the bigger picture, and while it is still an enjoyable film, one is left hungry for more.
Conclusion
While I enjoyed both of the documentaries I saw at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Changing the Game left the bigger and more lasting impact on my head and my heart.
What do you think? Do Changing the Game and A Taste of Sky sound like documentaries you’d want to check out? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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