My Chest Is Full of Sparks (2024)

• 76%
• 2024
• Documentary
• Gal Castellanos

Life doesn't always go as planned. After the death of the family patriarch, mother and child go separate ways to find themselves—she crosses the ocean to pursue the singing career she left behind, while filmmaker Gal realizes they are transgender—in this collage of video diaries. "My father dies. Days later, my mother escapes to Turkey to meet her secret Facebook lover. I suggest to my mother that we communicate through video letters. My mother, who gave up singing to raise me, finds freedom for the first time away from home. The video correspondences reveal our attempts to see each other through a shaky emotional journey. Alone, while filming this movie, I realized that I want to transition gender and change my name. An extraordinary journey of self-discovery, a mother and a child who always wanted to be more.