GABi
Gabi just wants to be Gabi. A simple wish one would think, but as it turns out, it is not. Showing the perspective of a child that refuses to be put in a box, we follow Gabi from age eight to thirteen. For Gabi, her way of being is perfectly natural. She is not afraid to speak her mind when it comes to what she thinks is wrong with the world, and in particular, how there should be no differences between boys and girls. In school, she is sometimes teased for wearing boys underpants but overall she enjoys being there.
‘Gabi lives with her stepfather Thomas and her mother Tracy. The parents are loving and accepting of Gabi but balancing being supportive of Gabi and at the same time being protective, is a struggle and creates conflicts.
When Gabi is ten her first brother is born and, at the same time, Thomas loses his job. With Stockholm being expensive, the family decides to move to a small working class town, called Mora. Gabi struggles to be accepted in her new school and to be able to fit in, she starts to censor herself. But Gabi settles in. She finds new friends and new hobby – ice hockey.
At eleven puberty hits her. Her body starts to change and at the same time her second brother,Ted, is born. With two toddlers there is less room for her. Gabi is slowly pushed out of her safe childhood universe, facing a new body she is scared of having and a world she feels alienated from.
Our movie follows Gabi all the way from ages 8-13 and captures the rarely documented pre-teen years.
A story about a person who struggles to find her place in the world during the most transformative period of life. It’s a film which challenges preconceptions of gender and norms. Showing the search for identity and underlining the human right to belong and to be who you are.
PROJECT
Title: GABI - ages 8 to 13
Director: Engeli Broberg
Producer: Anna J Ljungmark, Jakob Eklund
Duration: 75/58
Partners: Swedish Film Institute, Sundance Film Institute, Filmbasen, Film i Dalarne, Creative Europe
Delivery: Spring 2021
STATUS: World Premiere CPH:DOX 2021
