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Queer Screen and the City of Sydney will be commemorating Transgender Day of Remembrance with a free showing of Queer comedy-drama, Runs in the Family.
Directed by Ian Gabriel (Ludik) and written by and also starring his son, Gabe Gabriel (No Hiding Here), Runs in the Family will be shown on November 20.
A Road Trip Across South Africa To Break Mother Out Of Rehab
According to the official synopsis, “The film follows a reformed con artist, Varun (Ace Bhatti), and his transmasculine son, River (Gabe Gabriel), on a road trip across South Africa to break River’s estranged mother (Diaan Lawrenson) out of rehab. When injury befalls Ollie (Cleo Wesley), River’s drag partner and best friend, his mother propels father and son to partner up for a drag competition that could win River his gender-affirming surgery.”
Runs in the Family stars Ace Bhatti (Bohemian Rhapsody), Gabe Gabriel, Diaan Lawrenson (Ludik), and Cleo Wesley.
‘A Positive Father-And-Trans Son Relationship’
In an interview with Variety, Gabe Gabriel spoke about the process of writing something so personal.
“Writing something so close to home, yet fictional, was an interesting new challenge. While based on my own complex, but positive relationship with my father as a young trans man coming into his own in South Africa, the story had to eventually separate itself from us and become its own magical thing in order to really take off. I took anecdotes from my life and my real father’s life and the qualities of our relationship and infused them into these fictional characters in order to both humanise them and make them interesting and specific and kind of quirky.
“One of my main goals was to represent something I have in real life but have never seen before in tv and film – a positive father-and-trans son relationship.”
‘Extremely Rewarding To Play My First Trans Role’
Runs in the Family is Gabriel’s first serious acting role since coming out as trans in 2019.
Talking about this, he said, “The first thing I’ll say is what a relief it is to spend all my energy on acting rather than half on the character and half on performing a gender that never felt like it fit me. It was also extremely rewarding to play my first trans role – to portray a trans experience in all of its very specific and beautiful, nuanced complexities.”
Runs in the Family premiered on June 1 at the Inside Out Film Festival in Toronto.
Transgender Day of Remembrance takes place annually on November 20. It is a day to honour the memory of those who lost their lives to acts of transphobia.
When: November 20, 7pm-9pm
Where: Event Cinemas, 505-525 George Street, Sydney NSW
While tickets are free, bookings are essential. Each booking comes with a free choc top.
