Always Amber

Lia Hietala & Hannah Reinikainen : 2020

At the age of 17, Amber opted for the gender-neutral Swedish pronoun "hen" and began consulting a therapist specialising in gender identities. Together with best friend Sebastian, the two queer youngsters share a world far away from the judging eyes of society. When they are together, anything feels possible. We get to hang out with Amber and Sebastian during this identity building period, when they share everything from dreams and parties to new friendships. But when Amber falls in love with Charlie, something starts to challenge their utopian world. Trust issues begin to emerge, and in the midst of it all Amber has to face going through their transition alone. Possessed of a pop icon-like sense of style, Amber's social-media-savvy circle of friends celebrates a spectrum of fluid identities and the value of the close ties that can only emerge from this freedom. Lia Hietala and Hannah Reinikainen's observational documentary premiered in the Panorama Dokumente section at Berlin International Film Festival 2020.