Synopsis

A BOOK BY THEIR COVER is a 32-minute indie-short film that addresses a tween girl identifying their orientation, educating herself with a book, and how the town reacts. A BOOK BY THEIR COVER addresses how LGBTQIA+ young people must learn about themselves, and how this must stop being a covert awakening.

Director Statement

Young people often ask - what is sex, where do babies come from, what are the birds and the bees - sometimes they are not answered, and oftentimes they are only told the cis-heteronormative version. We need to inform children of the full continuum with inclusion of more possibilities that reflect human nature factually, scientifically, socially, and sexually. A young person needs acceptance and not conditioning of a unilateral existence. 

Young people often feel shame that surfaces without knowledge of what shame is…this must stop, forever. Sexual education at home and at school must include the spectrum of who people are; and facilities of education, including books for varying age groups, must be available to young people without censor or ban. Governments, boards, towns and homes need to provide safe space, without rejection, confiscation, policing, and violence. 

A BOOK BY THEIR COVER addresses Queer discovery, boldly asking questions and sharing identity (when ready and self permitted), providing a book as an educational resource, the flow of that acceptance suddenly thwarted, perverted, and rejected with contempt, shifting to societal discussion leading to empathetic knowledge and awareness of all - instead of merely what was once and is frequently only deemed - normal. From A BOOK BY THEIR COVER there is a heroes-journey that is illustrated for all to learn, open, and progress.