“Trans Memoria” director Victoria Verseau on “Trans Love”

Courtesy of KVIFF

“Trans Memoria” director Victoria Verseau is ready for “Trans Love.”

The second part of the planned trilogy about her gender reassignment will be a fictionalized account of the life-changing journey she undertook in her twenties.

“I decided to take a road trip across the US and hitchhike for three months. Alone! I had never heard of hitchhiking trans girls and it was an extremely dangerous adventure, but I was young and naive. I’m glad I was, because I experienced the most wonderful things. And the most horrible things,” she says.

“At that time, I had just started taking hormones. I didn’t know how others would perceive me: as a gay boy, as a transgender person or as a woman? But I longed for love and sex. My friends were losing their virginity and my life was on hold. This trip became my own sexual revolution.”

Verseau, whose casting will take place in the fall, will reveal her “biggest secrets” in the film.

“I met so many heterosexual cis men on this trip. I met religious people, racist people, transphobic people. And I slept with them,” reveals the Swedish filmmaker.

“It could have ended badly and sometimes I wonder how close I was to ending up like so many other trans women – murdered. It’s OK if this film makes audiences uncomfortable. I don’t mind if it’s scandalous.”

Her journey ended in San Francisco, where Verseau underwent facial feminization surgery. Now she relives the reality of her painful transition in the documentary film “Trans Memoria,” premiering at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

The film was sold by Outplay Films, produced by Malin Hüber for Her Film and co-produced by Mathilde Raczymow for Les Films du Bilboquet.

“I didn’t think I would be brutally honest about my vagina not working. But my friends Athena and Amina were at the beginning of their transition and I wanted to prepare them for their possible future. It’s very individual – different bodies react differently. They had much better results than me,” she admits.

“We ended up cutting out some scenes because Amina felt the film was too critical of gender reassignment surgery, which was not my intention at all. I think it’s clear that I would have died if I hadn’t had the surgery. But it was a struggle.”

In the film, Verseau’s own experiences and those of her friends are intertwined with the story of Meril, who died in Thailand three years after her operation.

“Her family condemned her decision. They wiped out her existence and there is nothing left. We still haven’t found her grave.”

“I realize that our community and many allies are critical of all these tragic narratives about trans women. I understand that there needs to be more positive stories, but I also think it’s different when the creator is trans. I couldn’t change the truth. Aside from my gender transition, making this film was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Having an artistic background, she was not afraid to mix different formats and styles.

“Andrea Arnold is a huge inspiration. She gets so incredibly close to her characters. The same goes for Ruben Östlund – when I was younger I did an internship on one of his earlier films. I think I just like contrasting approaches.”

She is also willing to open up to her viewers.

“I’m still a little nervous about talking about very personal things, but I’ve made my decision. I’ve lived a very dramatic, traumatic and amazing life. I have a lot to tell.”

“I’m worried about financing my next film in Sweden. We have a strong right-wing movement that is not too ‘happy’ towards LGBTQ+ people. Yet I lived for many years without speaking openly about my gender reassignment. Now I’m at a time where I want to share all these extraordinary things I’ve experienced. This gives me meaning.”