Scrappy, self-confident, and a little bit naïve, young androgyne Raphi is trying to navigate the sometimes-scary world of online dating as a newly out transwoman in Barcelona. Though her parents back in France are supportive, she is starting to feel the pressure to identify, look, and date a certain way: A therapist bluntly tells her she has “gender dysphoria;” some of her trans support group are focused on surgery; but Raphi is going to take this journey of self-discovery in her own unique direction, never losing her sense of romance and optimism.

MY EMPTINESS AND I is the narrative follow-up to director Adrián Silvestre’s powerful documentary SEDIMENTS and an intimate collaboration with co-writer and star Raphaëlle Pérez. The heart of the film is Pérez’s compelling performance–she is charismatic, raw, and comical all at once. The result is a uniquely compassionate—not to mention alternately funny and sexy—study of self-acceptance that eschews clichés for unbridled honesty.

—  Elliott Breeden