Justine

A transgender teenager finds herself in a romantic encounter — a moment that most young people find nerve-racking enough, but one in which the stakes are higher for her. As it unfolds, she has to confront her fear of being rejected or treated unfairly because of who she is, and decide whether she will stand firm in her identity and claim the connection she wants. Directed by Asha Shahinian, who wrote the script with Michael Castelaz, this six-minute American short stars Aljosha Horvat and Tim Eliot. Compact and intimate, the film stays close to its young heroine's experience, capturing the vulnerability and courage involved in being seen honestly by someone else. Justine is a brief, tender portrait of a young woman asserting who she is, and of how much a single moment of acceptance — or the fear of losing it — can mean.