A trans man has to navigate the complexities of gender transition treatment while also chronicling the Afghani Taliban in Monica Villamizar and Jordan Bryon’s intensely personal and political “Transition.” Despite its relatively straightforward title, this documentary, which premiered at Tribeca, is a staggering work that, somehow, manages to contextualize not only Bryon’s personal transition but also juxtapose that life against the deeply segregated Taliban fighters that he is chronicling for The New York Times. Jumping from video diary to anthropological study to, at moments, thriller, it’s a remarkable debut from journalists Villamizr and Bryon. It also doesn’t hurt that the Australian Bryon is both an affable and self-reflective subject.
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Ostensibly, he is making a documentary about the Taliban, embedding himself within the organization. Despite reminders that he is an ‘infidel,’ he is nevertheless welcomed by the Taliban fighters who are quick to explain their social and political ideology. But, Bryon is concurrently making a much different film, one that chronicles his own transition, done in segments between filming. The tension between these two creates a fascinating, and at times harrowing, parallel as Bryon and Villamizar oscillate between Afghani segments and diaristic reflections on the long process of gender transition.
Thus, “Transition” often dwells in a gray zone, humanizing the Taliban fighters, if never forgetting what their political and social positions are. We see their children, their interests, and their personalities, but Bryon and Villamizar are also quick to include references to the terror that the organization has brought. One fighter discussing Osama Bin Laden’s greatness is particularly chilling and a potent reminder of the disparate beliefs that Bryon is chronicling. The same goes for discussions of the role of women in society, which, as the audience is aware of Bryon’s transition, plays much differently than an objective chronicle of their beliefs.
Yet, we never see their wives or any of the women in their lives. Bryon almost exclusively moves through masculine spaces. When Bryon turns towards something like marginal sympathy for the Taliban fighters, it’s a byproduct of how they perceive him — as male, not trans. His partner, the photographer Kiana Hayeri, quickly reminds him of the dangers that come from embedding with the Taliban and their treatment of women. Bryon says that if they knew about his transition, they would probably do worse than cut off access. It’s a window into the affordances that males are given within the terrorist organization and the society at large. With that, Bryon is constantly aware of his actions, connecting gender performance in these interviews with his own personal feelings of gender dysphoria.
When Bryon openly wonders to his mother what the Taliban fighters will think of his deception, his mother quite astutely observes that all documentary is a form of deception, in which one point of view is prioritized over others. By centralizing Bryon’s own, we are not only privy to his own hardships as related to transitioning but also the ways that gender is foregrounded within society and the personal danger that comes with transitioning.
“Transition” works as both a personal accounting of Bryon’s journey and a fascinating exploration of how gender is treated within conservative societies. That the film can account for both, drawing out the parallels, schisms, and nuances that exist within a society that strongly believes in a gender binary, is something of a minor miracle. “Transition” is never anything but firm in its point of view, but it’s also interested in portraying these figures as human, a goal that the film largely succeeds at. With that, “Transition” is one of the most engrossing documentaries of the year. [A]
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