The number of women in the film and television industries has been on a slow but steady increase with campaigns for equal representation, in front of and behind the camera, leading to more inclusive film sets. However, it can still be an isolating space for individuals like Bianca Cline and Ava Benjamins who are two—if not the only—trans cinematographers from Mormon families working in the US.

“I first met Ava because I hired her to shoot a short film with me,” says Rachel Fleit, a writer and director from New York City who has had alopecia since she was 18 months old. “We told each other personal stories and got to know each other almost immediately. It was clear we had so much in common; being a bald woman and being a trans woman, we had similar feelings and experiences in the world.”

Ava agreed to appear in this documentary profile on the condition that her friend Bianca, who is also a successful trans cinematographer, could be part of the project. “When I first spoke to Bianca it was like we had known each other forever,” says Fleit. “ I was talking about bravery and she stopped me and said, "this isn’t about being brave, I had to come out as trans because my life depended on it." 

“It struck me at my core. First, as a cisgender woman, I have tons to learn, such as the subtleties of my cis privilege, but mostly, as a woman who wore a wig for 14 years before taking it off, who walks around as a bald woman, who is often called brave, who doesn't at all identify as brave, who has been ruled by fear… I thought, of course it's not about courage.

“It's a necessity to be who you are. I believe that if you don’t become yourself you won’t survive. So much of Ava and Bianca's experience parallels my own. We have all had a feeling, at times, that we were missing something in order to feel like a ‘real woman’. 

“There are moments in the film in which they are telling their story where I could have easily been telling my own. After filming with Ava and Bianca, it was clear that the story was about their friendship; the divine intervention that occurs when someone so uniquely qualified to understand you is put in your path. It is a true gift, may we all be so lucky to feel fully seen and celebrated.”