Three trans(masculine) athletes enter a space where trans bodies are often questioned, debated, erased, or legislated against. Instead of proving their humanity through suffering, they prove it through friendship, athletic excellence, joy, interdependence, and belonging.

Director Biography - Ariel Delsol

Trans filmmaker based in Costa Rica. Among my areas of deep interest in cinema are cinematography and documentary directing, but I also feel strongly driven to tell stories that make the trans community visible and defend it. I also seek to defend the human rights of minorities in everything I do.
I am interested in stories that question hegemonic narratives of authority and social behavior in order to make space for other forms of existence. I feel very drawn to stories that are anti-dogmatic and anti-Catholic, especially because of the oppression and violence that this ideology has had in my life. I am also very drawn to sci-fi genres that allow us to build universes brutally similar to our own, but shown as metaphors that reflect the absurd, violent, and senseless aspects of our societies. I am currently developing a project that seeks to combine all of this into one.
I feel called to questions of human existence that we cannot answer with words or concrete images, but rather approach through scientific-spiritual feelings or sensations about what our existence in the universe means. I think it's important to appeal to and nourish the spirit outside the conditions of a religion.
My work is also deeply shaped by questions around masculinity: what healthy masculinity is and what it is not, what the rites of initiation into masculinity are and why they matter to us, the bonds and construction of loving and empathetic communities, and the construction of identity.

Director Statement

This is not a story about belonging. It is about love, growth, care, and excellence as a human condition. As human potential. Human nature is bound to seek glory. Humans have pushed so many limits to keep discovering even more room for us to exist, and to understand ourselves and the world around us. That is part of our nature. Trans people are pushing the boundaries of our understanding. We bring a dynamic point of view to this world. We bring empathy and respect for life and its different expressions. We bring lessons about how we behave around gender, so we can do better. We are living beings that breathe, that have dreams and desire. Fighting for our existence is exhausting, leaving us with not much energy left to share what we know, the truth that we carry. It is time to let that truth flourish and bring more light to this world.
During the making of this film I have encountered a lot of unfelt grief. It’s common for trans people. Grieving something that nobody knew we needed until we found it. We were denied things that were vital to us, but seemed unimportant to others around us. I have longed for so long to experience a loving and supportive community around other trans athletes. The joy, the love, the excitement of seeing a trans person thrive in something they love, being themselves without limits and without conditions. I think we all deserve that.
For the past 5 years I have faced every day with the challenge of expanding my mind and my understanding of society so I can feel part of it. So that I feel there’s space for me to breathe in peace. I also want space for my dreams to exist. I need to make films about trans existence like my life depends on it. Because, in many ways, it does. For some others, I hope it helps save their lives too. But what I desire the most is that young trans folks grow with references of what they can become, in a world where they belong.

Sports, Queer, trans, LGBTQ+, BIPOC

DIRECTOR WRITER & PRODUCER: Ariel Delsol

WRITER: Schuyler Bailar

PRODUCER: Schuyler Bailar, Vannesa Santos Cataño,

KEY CAST: Schuyler Bailar, Cal Calamia, Chella Man