“One day, Sasha asked for a dress,” recalls a woman whose child was assigned male at birth. “I was embarrassed. But I saw the look in the mirror, with the dress. Such happiness. And I didn’t care what people thought anymore.” The upcoming doc “Little Girl” sees a young trans girl discovering and exploring her gender identity, with the love and support of her family. A trailer for the French-language film has arrived.
Sasha seems confident about who she is, exclaiming “I feel beautiful!” when she puts on a dress, and happily telling her counselor, “I’m a girl.” Her parents accept her for who she is as well. “It isn’t a question of tolerating it,” her father says. “For me, it’s Sasha, period.”
Unfortunately, Sasha is met with resistance at school. “My second grade teachers aren’t very nice,” she reveals. She may be forced to leave her school, depending on a decision from the principal. Sasha’s mother goes to bat for her, telling the administrators, “There are children who perfectly accept her. I’d like the adults to do the same.”
While Sasha’s mom finds the constant fighting with the school “exhausting,” she will continue to do so until Sasha is granted the respect and dignity she deserves: “I told her, it’s her battle and mine too. The battle of my life.”
“Little Girl” premiered at Berlinale 2020 and screened at the 2021 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York. The doc will open at Film Forum in NY September 17, with a wider national release to follow.
