This 2007 documentary directed by Maya Gallus follows 26-year-old Madison, a Canadian, as he transitions from a male to a female in body, mind, and spirit.
A Transgender Story
Directed by Gallus, who also co-produced with Justine Pimlott, Girl Inside follows Madison for three years during a highly emotional journey in which she learns to fully embrace womanhood as a transgender. Gallus also directed the feature-length documentary Fag Hags: Women Who Love Gay Men (2005), Punch Like a Girl (2002), Erotica: A Journey Into Female Sexuality (1997), and her first film, Elizabeth Smart: On the Side of the Angels (1991).
In Girl Inside, Madison’s sometimes-painful journey includes counseling, hormone replacement therapy, sex reassignment surgery, and attitude adjustment. Aiding this transition is Vivien, Madison’s 80-year-old grandmother who teaches her generation’s standards regarding femininity and sexuality. Madison’s relationship with her male best friend also turns romantic as her journey into womanhood gets closer to completion.
The film’s new DVD release by Women Make Movies is recommended for college courses in transgender and queer studies, gender studies, women’s studies, and sociology.
Screenings and Awards for Girl Inside
On November 28, 2008, Gallus won the Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Documentary Program for her work on Girl Inside. The awards ceremony, which includes many other categories, celebrates Canada’s best English-language programming on television. The ceremony, in its twenty-third year, was held in Toronto and broadcast across the country on E!, Everything Entertainment and Showcase.
The other nominees for Best Direction were Peter Raymont for A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman, David Paperny for Confessions of an Innocent Man, Nick de Pencier for Four Wings and a Prayer, and John Zaritsky for The Suicide Tourist.
Girl Inside has screened at several festivals including Reel Affirmations DC, Atlantic Film Festival Halifax, New Fest – The New York LGBT Film Festival, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Frameline – San Francisco LGBT Film Festival, DOXA – Documentary Film Festival Vancouver, and Hot Docs Int’l Documentary Festival.
Girl Inside Documentary on DVD
- Girl Inside
- Director: Maya Gallus
- Run Time: 70 minutes
- Rating: Unrated
- Additional Information: Color Documentary, DVD 2007. Composer: Keir Brownstone; Editor: Miume Jan Eramo; Cinematographers: Eve Lamont, Scott Brown, Steve Adamcryck; Sound Design: Grant Edmonds, Justine Pimlott.
Women Make Movies
Girl Inside is distributed by Women Make Movies (WMM), the world’s leading distributor of independent films by and about women, focusing particularly on timely documentaries that explore important subjects regarding women. The Women Make Movies collection includes more than 500 films including the award-winning Pilar Prassas’s In Sickness and In Health, George Foster Peabody Award-winning Kim Longinotto’s Sisters in Law, and Gracie award-winning Ellen Spiro’s Troop 1500: Girl Scouts Beyond Bars.
Leslie C. Halpern - Leslie C. Halpern, Romantic Films/Comedies Topic Editor, authored Passionate About Their Work, Reel Romance, & Dreams on Film.
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