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Alexa Bakony graduated as a documentary film director at the University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest and has since released short features Iborfia and Homeland Empire. With funding from National Film Institute Hungary and Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, Bakony released her feature debut The Colors Of Tobi, an intimate fly on the wall documentary and official selection for BFI Flare Film Festival, follows the life of Tobi Turza, a teenager with gender dysphoria.
Filmed over the course of 4 years in rural Hungary, the exceptional and intimate The Colors of Tobi , void of traditional documentary techniques such as interviews and cutaways, combined with articulate and compassionate members of the Turza family, one wouldn’t be foolish for mistaking it as a piece of scripted realism. Bakony perfectly captures real lives without misrepresenting a single feeling: The authenticity is created by an unsullied filming approach which allows the family to perceived in its most pure and natural form without any pressure to simplify or exaggerate.
Not only does this stripped-back, long term project portray the complex life of Tobi and his experiences with gender dysphoria, but it also sheds a light on the effect of transition has on family. Tobi’s mother, Eva struggles to understand his feelings, despite being supportive throughout can’t help to feel saddened to lose the girl she thought she once knew. In 80 minutes we go through the years, we see how the lives of the family evolve and grow, how family family bonds can be tested and shaken but ultimately set the foundations for Tobi to flourish into the person he is today.
Watch the trailer:
