365days365films

Basic Info / 基本情報

Synopsis / あらすじ

[English / 英語] Seven-year-old Sasha lives in northwestern France. Although assigned male at birth, Sasha has always known in her heart that she is a girl. Her family—her mother Karine, her father, and her three siblings—fully embrace Sasha’s gender identity and provide her with unwavering support. However, the world outside their home, particularly her school and local society, is not as understanding. Sasha faces painful obstacles when trying to wear the clothes she loves or be recognized by her true name. The film follows Karine as she courageously confronts school administrators, doctors, and rigid bureaucracy to secure Sasha’s fundamental rights. Through a quiet observation of Sasha’s daily life and her family’s profound bonds, the film asks: What is the true essence of gender identity? How can we protect the inherent dignity of every child? And what kind of compassionate society must we strive to create for the next generation?

[日本語] フランス北西部に暮らす7歳のサシャは、生物学的には男児として生まれましたが、幼い頃から自分は女の子であるという確かな自覚を持っていました。母カリーヌをはじめ、父や3人のきょうだいたちは、サシャのありのままの姿を慈しみ、全力で彼女を支えています。しかし、一歩家の外に出れば、学校や地域社会という壁が立ちはだかり、サシャが望む服を着ることや、女の子として名前を呼ばれることさえ容易ではありません。母カリーヌは、愛する娘の権利を守るため、学校の不理解や硬直した行政、医療機関との孤独で粘り強い闘いに身を投じます。映画は、サシャの静かな日常と家族の深い絆を瑞々しく描き出し、私たちに問いかけます。ジェンダーアイデンティティの真の意味とは何なのか。子どもたちの尊厳をいかにして守るべきか。そして、私たちはどのような社会を次世代へと引き継いでいくべきなのでしょうか。

Cast & Crew / スタッフ・出演

Additional Information / 追加情報

Awards / 受賞歴

• Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) 2021 – 1 win:
  • Teddy Award (Documentary) – WON (Sébastien Lifshitz)
• César Awards (2022) – 1 nomination:
  • Best Documentary Film – nomination (Sébastien Lifshitz)
• Frameline Film Festival (San Francisco, 2021) – Audience Award nomination
• Many international LGBTQ+ film festivals (2021): Selected and honored across Europe, North America, and Asia
• Broadcast on Arte (France/Germany public television) to significant viewership before international streaming release

Critical Reception / 批評的評価

• Rotten Tomatoes: 97% (Critics)
• Metacritic: 84/100 (Universal Acclaim)
• IMDb: 7.5/10
• Described by critics across Europe and North America as one of the most important documentaries of the decade
• Praised above all for its restraint — the film never editorializes, never advocates, never positions itself as argument; it simply watches, and the watching is devastating
• Lifshitz’s decision to film at Sasha’s physical eye level — crouching, kneeling, never looking down — cited as the film’s most important formal choice: a gesture of radical respect
• Karine’s portrait called one of documentary cinema’s most complete depictions of maternal love under institutional pressure — a woman simultaneously fighting the school, managing her own fear, protecting Sasha’s siblings from bearing too much of the weight, and trying to hold herself together
• The film’s refusal to use the word “transgender” prominently — Sasha is simply a girl who needs to be seen as one — praised as formally and ethically consistent
• Roger Ebert.com: ★★★★ “A film of extraordinary delicacy — Lifshitz trusts his subject completely”
• The New York Times: “Quietly radical — a film that asks only that we watch and understand”
• Le Monde: “Lifshitz has made a film that will change the way people see”
• The Guardian: ★★★★★ “One of the most moving documentaries in years”
• Cahiers du Cinéma: Named among the best films of 2020
• Widely used in educational contexts — schools, medical training, social work programs — as a resource for understanding gender dysphoria in children
• Some critics noted that the film’s gentleness may understate the severity of institutional resistance Sasha and her family face — the school’s behavior, seen from the outside, constitutes a sustained campaign of exclusion against a seven-year-old
• The film’s final scene — Sasha dancing, freely, in the school recital she almost was not allowed to participate in — cited as one of documentary cinema’s most quietly triumphant conclusions

Box Office Performance / 興行成績

• Format: Television documentary (Arte, France/Germany)
• Broadcast: December 2020 on Arte
• Streaming: Available internationally via Mubi
• Theatrical: Limited theatrical screenings at film festivals and select art-house cinemas in France, Germany, UK, US, Japan
• Audience:
  • Arte broadcast reached significant French and German television audience
  • Mubi streaming expanded international reach substantially
  • Festival circuit (Berlinale, Frameline) brought the film to LGBTQ+ communities globally
  • Word-of-mouth within trans communities and families with trans children made it a touchstone document
  • Widely shared, discussed, and assigned in educational and medical contexts
• Cultural Impact vs. Box Office:
  • One of the clearest examples of a documentary whose cultural footprint vastly exceeds its commercial metrics
  • Transformed public conversation about transgender children in France following Arte broadcast
  • Contributed to ongoing legislative and medical discussions about gender-affirming care for minors in Europe

Related Review / 関連レビュー

🔗 English Review
・[International Transgender Day of Visibility] 7-Year-Old Girl’s Dignity — Toward Society Where Can Say “I Am Girl”

🔗 日本語レビュー
・【国際トランスジェンダー可視化デー】7歳の少女の尊厳——「私は女の子」と言える社会へ