XXY


1h 31m 2007
XXY

Brief Synopsis

For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a v

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Drama
Foreign
Teens
Release Date
2007
Production Company
Historias Cinematografias; Pyramide Films; Pyramide Films; Wanda Visión S.A.
Distribution Company
Film Movement; Arthaus (Norway); CinTart; Distribution Company; Film Movement; Imovision; Passion River; Peccadillo Pictures; Polyfilm Verleih Gmbh; Pyramide Distribution; Teodora Film; Wanda Visión S.A.; Xenix Filmdistribution

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 31m

Synopsis

For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son Álvaro. Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity, and forces both families to face their worst fears.

Film Details

MPAA Rating
Genre
Drama
Foreign
Teens
Release Date
2007
Production Company
Historias Cinematografias; Pyramide Films; Pyramide Films; Wanda Visión S.A.
Distribution Company
Film Movement; Arthaus (Norway); CinTart; Distribution Company; Film Movement; Imovision; Passion River; Peccadillo Pictures; Polyfilm Verleih Gmbh; Pyramide Distribution; Teodora Film; Wanda Visión S.A.; Xenix Filmdistribution

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 31m

Articles

XXY -


For her debut feature as a director, Lucia Puenzo created this sensitive tale of an intersex 15-year-old dealing with parental expectations, social pressure and emotional conflict. Alex (Ines Efron) was born with both male and female sex organs. Her family has moved her to a remote fishing village in Uruguay to escape bullying while having her take hormones to suppress her male features. When her mother (Valeria Bertuccelli) invites her best friend's family to visit, she has an ulterior motive. Her friend's husband is a surgeon, and Bertuccelli hopes he will perform surgery to permanently suppress Alex's male side. However, Alex has secretly stopped taking her medication to explore their non-binary status. When the surgeon's son, Alvaro (Martin Piroyansky) finds himself attracted to Alex's male side, both families have to deal with their children's sexual identities.

Puenzo, a native of Argentina, has focused on childhood and adolescent issues related to gender in most of her films, coming down firmly against heteronormative views of child development. Yet her films are far from didactic, focusing instead on imagery and subtle details of characterization. XXY (2007) was her first major international success, winning the Critics Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and awards at the Athens, Bangkok, Cartagena, Kerala, Ljubljana, Montreal and Sao Paolo film festivals. Intersex actress Efron was named Best Actress by the Argentinean Film Critics Association, which also gave awards to the film and its screenplay.

By Frank Miller
Xxy -

XXY -

For her debut feature as a director, Lucia Puenzo created this sensitive tale of an intersex 15-year-old dealing with parental expectations, social pressure and emotional conflict. Alex (Ines Efron) was born with both male and female sex organs. Her family has moved her to a remote fishing village in Uruguay to escape bullying while having her take hormones to suppress her male features. When her mother (Valeria Bertuccelli) invites her best friend's family to visit, she has an ulterior motive. Her friend's husband is a surgeon, and Bertuccelli hopes he will perform surgery to permanently suppress Alex's male side. However, Alex has secretly stopped taking her medication to explore their non-binary status. When the surgeon's son, Alvaro (Martin Piroyansky) finds himself attracted to Alex's male side, both families have to deal with their children's sexual identities. Puenzo, a native of Argentina, has focused on childhood and adolescent issues related to gender in most of her films, coming down firmly against heteronormative views of child development. Yet her films are far from didactic, focusing instead on imagery and subtle details of characterization. XXY (2007) was her first major international success, winning the Critics Week Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and awards at the Athens, Bangkok, Cartagena, Kerala, Ljubljana, Montreal and Sao Paolo film festivals. Intersex actress Efron was named Best Actress by the Argentinean Film Critics Association, which also gave awards to the film and its screenplay. By Frank Miller

Quotes

Trivia

Miscellaneous Notes

Winner of the Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the 2008 San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.

Winner of the Outstanding International Dramatic Feature Grand Jury Award at the 2008 Outfest: Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

Winner of the Skillset New Directors Award at the 2007 Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Released in United States Spring May 2, 2008

Released in United States August 15, 2008

Released in United States on Video December 2, 2008

Released in United States August 2007

Released in United States 2008

Released in United States June 2008

Released in United States July 2008

Shown at Edinburgh International Film Festival (Rosebud) August 15-26, 2007.

Shown at New Directors/New Films Series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center March 26-April 6, 2008.

Shown at Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Latino Cinemedia) January 24-February 3, 2008.

Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) May 22-June 15, 2008.

Shown at San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (Centerpiece) June 19-29, 2008.

Shown at Outfest: Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (International Dramatic Feature) July 9-21, 2008.

Based on the short story "Cinismo" written by Sergio Bizzio.

Feature directorial debut for Lucia Puenzo.

Released in United States Spring May 2, 2008 (NY)

Released in United States August 15, 2008 (Los Angeles)

Released in United States on Video December 2, 2008

Released in United States August 2007 (Shown at Edinburgh International Film Festival (Rosebud) August 15-26, 2007.)

Released in United States 2008 (Shown at New Directors/New Films Series at the Film Society of Lincoln Center March 26-April 6, 2008.)

Released in United States 2008 (Shown at Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Latino Cinemedia) January 24-February 3, 2008.)

Released in United States 2008 (Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) May 22-June 15, 2008.)

Released in United States June 2008 (Shown at San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (Centerpiece) June 19-29, 2008.)

Released in United States July 2008 (Shown at Outfest: Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (International Dramatic Feature) July 9-21, 2008.)