On this week's episode, I'm utterly excited, and cheerful, and bubbly for we are going to comment on a short movie called "In France Michelle Is a Man's Name" which tells the story of Michael, a young trans man, who returns home on the rural American West after a period of estrangement from his parents.

As a short introduction that won't nearly cover all their accomplishments and who they are - Em Weinstein is a writer and a director of short films, musicals, and interactive installations. Em is an alumnus of the Drama League Directors Project and is a New Georges Associate Artist. Em received an M.F.A. in directing from Yale School of Drama in May 2019.

Em’s first short film Candace has played at festivals worldwide including the Mill Valley Film Festival, Outfest, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, and the American Pavilion Emerging LGBTQ Filmmakers Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Film.

Their new film "In France's Michelle Is a Man's Name" which I watched for at least 15 times, is a thought-provoking, self-introspective analysis on the dynamic of masculinity and fatherhood in the lives of queer people. As a nonbinary person, which means that Em fluctuates between the feminine and the masculine realms, tells me during our conversation that one the main reasons why they decided to create the film are based on the need we ought to acquire to reevaluate our genders, and how they can be socially-restrictive and mentally self-degrading if we let it be the primary source of how we mould our personality, therefore who we are.

On our talk, we'll analyse some scenes of the film, the subjective meaning and social commentary Em infuses in his work, how growing up in the arts helped them to become self-realised about their gender, parenthood in modern times, how we can nurture positive masculine interactions and unpack what once was considered the norm and much more.