In many cultures, the washing of a dead person is a ritual performed as a final act to cleanse the body from impurities. So when the parents at the center of Ahmad Alyaseer’s short film Our Males and Females receive the body of their deceased daughter from abroad, following these traditions, she has to be washed before being shrouded. Customs dictate that this washing should be performed by those of the same gender, but for this father and mother their daughter is trans and they don’t know how to proceed. In Our Males and Females, Alyaseer takes a hard look at how far discrimination and rejection can go, even in the face of death.
Directed by Ahmad Alyaseer