All About my Father is a personal documentary about a well-respected doctor and transvestite in a small Christian town, directed by the one person most likely to convey his story with warmth, humour and irony: his son. Armed with a small video camera, and with the use of old nostalgic Super-8mm family footage, he set out to make a personal portrait of his transvestite father.
“Contrary to my father‚Äôs idea that this film would promote him as a colourful and different person who uses all his time and effort to combat the conservative bureaucracy, I wanted to make a deeply personal portrait of him where his transvestism and strong self-realisation forms the basis of the film,” says the director. “I have made this film on my own terms. It is important to show that my family is not unique – there are many families like mine, and by making this film I hope others can see their families in perspective. In order to do this, I could not compromise ‚Äì personal confrontation was paramount in making this a genuine film.”
About the director:
Even Benestad studied directing and cinematography at the Film Academy in Oslo. He has directed and photographed many short films, as well as mini-documentary series for television. All About my Father has won several prestigious awards since it premiered, among them the Teddy Award for Best Documentary in Berlin in 2002.
Even Benestad | Norway | 2002 | 72 minutes | 35mm | Norwegian with English & Chinese subtitles
