Educational Media Reviews Online

Threshold is a documentary with the spoken language of Portuguese and English subtitles. Another name for Threshold is En el lindar. This documentary film takes place in Brazil and is about the journey a mother took in visibly filming the path her eldest child took to have a non-binary gender identity and for her own acceptance for these changes.

Coraci Ruiz is the producer and director of this film, and she had the goal of wanting to create a film that is important in the discussion about family, gender, and sexuality. She succeeded in creating a film that is rich in intergeneration interviews with her mother and her family, varying topics, varying opinions, and accounts of social changes in Brazilian society with the visibility of diversity and LGBTQ+ populations. There is an uplifting message in this film about acceptance. There is still bias and uncertainty for families of people who are non-binary, queer, transexual, or homosexual, but there is also the need for acceptance for the individuals in the population who does not feel comfortable in their own bodies.

The changing of names was mentioned as a significant topic. Coraci gave their daughter the name Violeta, but the name was cast off as they embraced their new identity with the name of Andy and as the film concludes Noah.

Another topic mentioned was the continuing search for gender identity. It was a strong perspective that Noah took when they explained that gender identity doesn’t have to be defined by their physical bodies, but their minds. The brain is the organ that determines how they should feel. Multiple identities as part of the LGBTQ+ movement have different difficulties, but there is definitely the mention that transphobia is not the same as homophobia, yet both identities face similar oppression and controversial opinions.

Noah spoke about their dislikes of being defined by others as male or female. This was specifically exemplified toward the end when they were signing a permission slip for starting Noah’s testosterone treatment. This can easily make the film a controversial viewpoint to watch. Hormonal treatment is not reversible and gender acceptance is possibly going to take years for Noah to feel. Hormonal treatment is also viewed as mutilation of the body, and this topic can easily be subject of censorship.

Regardless, Threshold is a strong film to purchase for academic libraries with gender studies courses and public libraries with LGBTQ+ collections. Multiple perspectives are represented in the emergence of Noah who like-minded people could try to emulate and feel connection to. Threshold ends with a series of personal videos where they featured Noah speaking over the course of a year with hormonal treatments. This gradually shows the changes of their voice.

Awards:
Festival de Cine de Lima, Best Documentary; Queer Lisboa, Audience Award for Best Documentary; Llamale H Film Festival, Best Film; Turin Lovers LGBTQI Film Festival, Best Documentary; Festival Mix Brazil, Best Direction; Rainbow Brazil, Best Direction / Best Screenplay / Best Photography / Best Sound Design; 20º Cinemato, Festival de Cinema e Video de Cuiabá, Best Feature Film; 36^ Lovers Film Festival, Best Documentary; Rio Festival de Cinema LGBTQIA+, Best Film; Festival Internacional de Cinema da Diversidade Sexual e de Gênero de Goiás, Honorable Mention

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