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Award-winning male Italian film director announces he was born a woman

Home> Film & TV

Published 07:46 5 Sep 2022 GMT+1

Award-winning male Italian film director announces he was born a woman

The director has released a new movie which centres on a teenage girl who identifies as a boy

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Award-winning Italian director Emanuele Crialese has revealed he was born a woman as he presented his latest movie at Venice Film Festival.

Crialese appeared at the festival alongside Penélope Cruz to present his new film L’immensità. 

The movie is set in 1970s Rome and centres on a family where the eldest daughter identifies as a boy, causing tensions between her mum (played by Cruz) and her abusive dad. 

Crialese said his experiences helped shape his latest movie, adding: “The inspiration was my childhood and my story that is being transposed and reinterpreted. 

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Emanuele Crialese has revealed he was born biologically as a woman.
Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo

“I tried to find the good interpretation in it. I didn’t want it to be self-referential. I didn’t want to talk about just me. As I try to do with every film I make, I’ve tried to somehow represent in a broader way the topics I really care for like migration.

"The migration of a soul. That means a transition from one state to another one.”

Speaking about his transition publicly for the first time, Crialese said: "I was born biologically a woman, but that does not mean that I don't have in me a huge part [that is a] female character. That is probably the best part of me.”

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He went on: “We don’t decide to do a journey such as mine. You are born that way. I don’t have memories where I was ever perceived differently than I am. So there is no choice about it. 

“You come into the world just the way you are. Then the choice is to continue believing in yourself and in your journey or to die. There are now alternatives so when we talk of choice, that is how I understand choice.”

Matteo Chinellato/Alamy Stock Photo

Talking about her role in Crialese’s highly autobiographical movie, Cruz said: “I’ve played so many mothers. And even when I was very young with Pedro, I’ve made seven films and in five of them I play a mother and he’s always seen me as a mother and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

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“I have a very strong maternal instinct. I’m really fascinated by what happens inside any family. Things happen everywhere. Different things but all fascinating. Every single movie I make could be made around a family.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers 

Featured Image Credit: Abaca Press/Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: Film and TV, LGBTQ

Claire Reid
Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at UNILAD who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats.

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