Locals produce moving film

TWO Northside filmmakers have self-funded a sensitive, short documentary that tells the touching story of a boy from Denmark who began identifying and living as a woman when he moved to Dublin.

Derek Carter, from Swords, knew he had to document Nicole Winther-Barbosa’s story after meeting her in early 2016 to interview her for his popular Humans of Dublin podcast.

Derek had never met anybody like her, and not just because she was transgender or adorned with facial piercings and tattoos.

He was struck by her lively sense of humour, self-confidence, and, more than anything, her extreme openness.

“In the interview, she outlined the steps she was taking towards surgery, and why,” Derek said.

“So, when she announced on Facebook a year later that she had a confirmed date for surgery, I knew I had to document her story.”

Derek needed help to make Boy to Woman and recruited Jamie Jay Car from Finglas, another previous podcast guest, who had graduated film school and had a couple of short movies under his belt.

Together, they documented Nicole's story over the course of months, travelling around Ireland, England and Denmark together, not to mention days on end in Jamie's house brainstorming and editing many hours of footage.

“We formed a strong professional partnership and close friendship, and are now happily married. Only kidding!” Jamie joked.

“But we are genuinely good friends and are already planning our next project.”

Nicole’s story as told in Boy to Woman is remarkable. Born the eldest of two boys in 1980's rural Denmark, Nicole opens the documentary by telling us about her early experiences and how she struggled through her teens to find an identity that fit.

Why did she feel so different? Was she an effeminate boy?

Was she a flamboyant young gay man? Was there another option to choose from?

Until she was much older, she had neither the internet nor much exposure to the LGBTQ community to help her decide.

But by her early twenties, she had answered the question for herself and when she moved to Dublin took the opportunity to start identifying and living as a woman.

She was so sure that this was finally the right fit for her that soon after she began working towards gender reassignment surgery.

Nicole is a big personality, full of confidence and life, in spite of having to overcome stigma, depression and the physical and emotional demands of hormone treatment.

Although she has worked hard to build the body she wanted, it’s not Nicole’s anatomy that defines who she is, and her journey of self-discovery is not over yet.

To find out more about the movie see www.facebook.com/boytowomanfilm