‘Changing the game’: Film showcases realities of transgender athletes
Excitement is building for the start of the Paris Olympics. However, a new documentary has been announced which projects how the sporting event can have damning impacts on some individuals including transgender athletes.
Filmmakers Foton Pictures and Superfilms have announced that their Primetime Emmy-nominated documentary, which is otherwise known as Changing the Game, will be released post Olympics on all UK streaming platforms.
Image credit: Superfilms/Foton Pictures.
Directed by Michael Barnett, Changing the Game showcases the tales of three high school transgender athletes – all at different stages of their athletic seasons and personal lives. The stories span Sarah, a skier and teen policymaker, Andraya, a track star whose story sparked strong media attention and Mack Beggs, who made headlines when he became the Texas State Champion in wrestling and was heralded as a hero by somewhile receiving hate and threats from others.
Created in 2019, the film displays that even though each teenager was pursuing a career they love, other derogatory external factors limited their ability to enjoy the experience as much as they should have. Research from The Williams Institute additionally shows why projects like Changing the Game are so important – in 2021 more than 40% of transgender teenagers considered or attempted suicide.
After the film was made it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where senior programmer Lucy Mukerjee, said: ‘Trans althletes have to work harder than their cisgender peers in order to thrive in their field while also having the courage and resilience to face daily harassment and discrimination. The kids in this film have found sports as a way to channel the negativity around them into a positive, to gain a sense of self-worth and validation. This film is their urgent, articulate plea for acceptance.’
Following its world premiere the success of the project continued to grow. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, Best Sports Documentary at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and a Peabody Award for Documentary. It went on to win the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary, Audience Awards at Outfest Los Angeles for Best Documentary as well as the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Frameline San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival.
Commenting on the news that the film will now be made available on all UK streaming platforms, Barnett added: ‘We are thrilled that the film will be released on streaming platforms in the UK and we hope the film opens up meaningful and important conversations around acceptance, not only on the field but across all areas of our daily lives.’
Feature image: Jeremy Yap
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