‘Transition’ Review: A Trans Man Find Acceptance Among the Taliban in Afghanistan in Worthy Doc

How people perceive gender and react to it lies at the heart of Transition, Monica Villamizar and Jordan Bryons documentary premiering in competition at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film follows Bryon, an Australian journalist, transitioning at the same time that hes reporting from within Afghanistan as the country falls back under Taliban rule in 2021. His dilemma intensifies as hes ensconced with a group of hardline Taliban fighters. They only know him as a man, so hes able to have the access and security he needs to perform his job even as others in the country are losing their rights because of their gender. With that framework, the film feels like a documentation of a timebomb situation. At any moment things might change drastically for Bryon.

By the time Kabul falls, Jordan has been living in Afghanistan for more than five years. Hes there documenting the Taliban in a series of films for The New York Times. As he explains in voiceover, gender labels didnt follow him there and he was able to forge a new identity in this country that feels truer to himself. Bryons story is one of dichotomy: how hes accepted wholeheartedly by people who in different circumstances would not accept transgender people. Bryon has to question his identity every time hes around people. The film creates tension from situations that others wouldnt give a moments thought to, like deciding which airport security line to go through: the mens or womens.

Bryons always questioning how he feels about gender in conversations with colleagues and friends, on the phone with his supporting mother and in interactions with his Taliban sources. The danger manifests when the Taliban discuss how they feel about queer people. Yet they also fawn over Bryon, always wanting his attention and approval. Hes accepted as one of them. When they jokingly jostle him around, the audience feels Bryons utmost unease and fear. The camerawork has a truly journalistic feel. Its no surprise that Bryon himself is part of the camera crew. Its equally intimate, loose and at a remove questioning, chronicling but never prodding.

Eerie are the scenes documenting the Taliban taking control of the country. The camera becomes probing, inquisitive as chaos breaks out in the city. Bullets fly across as people are fleeing for their lives. The pandemonium is rendered through images of destroyed planes, low hovering helicopters, tanks roaming busy roads, flipped-over cars and belongings left behind. Blink and youll miss a Taliban member striking someone in the street, which instantly makes this personal story feel bigger as the ramifications become quickly apparent.

The film immediately and astutely moves to document the effect this political change has on the people of Afghanistan, particularly women. Two important figures in Bryons life take center stage. Kiana Hayeri, an Iranian photojournalist on her own mission within Afghanistan, punctures Bryons growing trust of his Taliban sources he even uses the word lovely to describe them by pointedly stating that his safety comes from being a foreigner first and a man second. Shes harassed when they think shes local. Also suddenly in grave danger is Bryons colleague and friend Farzad Fetrat, whos called Teddy. Hes from Afghanistan and more importantly has worked with the previous infidel government and associates with foreigners. At any moment he could lose his life for that. Both Hayeri and Fetrat contemplate leaving. On the other hand, theres Bryons doctor who states that he will stay. As with Teddy and Kiana, he acts like an oasis for Bryon, someone he can be himself around without fear or danger. His strategies for adapting to the new normal mirror Bryons own.

Transition is most effective when it follows Bryon as he navigates the world as a man, whether those are scenes with the Taliban or seeing his doctor and getting his surgery. Theres also a gentleness when showing him trying to look for male identity signposts, in closeups of his face as hes checking for facial hair and in a visit to a barber shop. Audiences are able to recognize his feelings simply from observation, especially when juxtaposed with an earlier time when Bryon presented as a woman and is shown trying on womens clothing in a market. Less successful are moments when he directly addresses the camera, introducing a note of falseness. Documentaries are never entirely nonfiction. Sometimes they need to create an atmosphere in order to coax a true moment. Its just that here those moments never feel as real as the rest of the film.

Although this is a personal narrative, when framed within a global seismic historical event the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban it inadvertently becomes smaller. More context is needed; stories about other people affected by this event might have helped. Theres nary a local queer or trans person beyond a brief glimpse of a fellow patient at Bryons hospital in Iran. As a story of one mans navigation of his identity, however, Transition is a strong narrative. Watching this steadfast person survive in such close quarters with those most unaccepting of his situation offers remarkable insight into issues of gender expression and acceptance, which might well translate to the social strictures back home.