Instructions for Survival review – a trans man’s close-up portrait of intolerance | Film

Intimate and heartbreaking, Yana Ugrekhelidze’s documentary opens with a frightening sight. Splashed across the screen are images of anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in Georgia, in which participants angrily wish death upon the queer community. For Alexander, a transgender man who struggles to survive in an environment stifled by intolerance, the most trivial, everyday interactions hold the threat of doxing and persecution. Forever lurking in the shadows, he can only be himself in the privacy of his own home.

Particularly striking is a scene where Alexander and his longtime partner, Marie, watch a talkshow in which a government official spouts hateful rhetoric in the name of so-called debate. Swinging back and forth between the TV screen and a frustrated Alexander, the camera pinpoints the absurdity of reducing the existence of actual people to talking points or a “problem” to be solved. The film counters such straw-man arguments by focusing on the material reality of life as a trans man in Georgia. Though lovingly supported by his aunt and girlfriend, Alexander faces social ostracism and financial precarity. Since his identity card still lists his gender as female, he is unable to find either a job or healthcare.

In order for the couple to leave the country and seek asylum elsewhere, Marie decides to become a surrogate mother – which comes with psychological and physical ups-and-downs. But when the pair finally land in Belgium, the film ends with a touching voiceover from Alexander, who is optimistic about the prospect of a haven. Considering that anti-trans sentiment is now spreading across the world at a frightening speed, the hopefulness of his message feels sadly fragile. The beautiful bond between Alexander and Marie, however, will continue to weather the coming storms.

Intimate and heartbreaking, Yana Ugrekhelidze’s documentary opens with a frightening sight. Splashed across the screen are images of anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations in Georgia, in which participants angrily wish death upon the queer community. For Alexander, a transgender man who struggles to survive in an environment stifled by intolerance, the most trivial, everyday interactions hold the threat of doxing and persecution. Forever lurking in the shadows, he can only be himself in the privacy of his own home.

Particularly striking is a scene where Alexander and his longtime partner, Marie, watch a talkshow in which a government official spouts hateful rhetoric in the name of so-called debate. Swinging back and forth between the TV screen and a frustrated Alexander, the camera pinpoints the absurdity of reducing the existence of actual people to talking points or a “problem” to be solved. The film counters such straw-man arguments by focusing on the material reality of life as a trans man in Georgia. Though lovingly supported by his aunt and girlfriend, Alexander faces social ostracism and financial precarity. Since his identity card still lists his gender as female, he is unable to find either a job or healthcare.

In order for the couple to leave the country and seek asylum elsewhere, Marie decides to become a surrogate mother – which comes with psychological and physical ups-and-downs. But when the pair finally land in Belgium, the film ends with a touching voiceover from Alexander, who is optimistic about the prospect of a haven. Considering that anti-trans sentiment is now spreading across the world at a frightening speed, the hopefulness of his message feels sadly fragile. The beautiful bond between Alexander and Marie, however, will continue to weather the coming storms.