Instructions for Survival (2021)

Name: Instructions for Survival
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2021-03-01

1h 12m

Running Time

March 1, 2021
Release Date

External Links & Social Media

Network & Production Companies

Plot.

Alexander’s transgender identity means he is obliged to lead a life of secrecy in his home country. Being identified as “female” in his passport means he cannot legally find work, either. Since even a visit to the doctor is a risk for him, he has begun hormone therapy to transition on his own with support from internet forums and the local transgender community. Desperate to escape their hopeless situation and leave the country, Alexander’s wife Mari decides to become a surrogate mother for 12,000 dollars. But their ostensibly pragmatic plan backfires when Alex and Mari gradually develop an emotional bond with the unborn child.

Where to Watch.

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Cast & Crew.

Jule Katinka Cramer

Director of Photography

Lennart Saathoff

Original Music Composer

Agata Wozniak

Editor

Yana Ugrekhelidze

Producer / Writer / Director

Media.

Details.

Release Date
March 1, 2021

Status
Released

Running Time
1h 12m

Genres
Documentary

Last updated: 2025-02-14

Wiki.

Instructions for Survival is a German documentary film, directed by Yana Ugrekhelidze and released in 2021. The film is a portrait of Alexander, a trans man living in Georgia who must carefully navigate secrecy about his gender identity while he and his wife undertake efforts to migrate to a safer country.

The film premiered in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino program at the 71st Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award from the Teddy Award program for LGBTQ-related films. It was subsequently screened in the United States at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in April, where it won the award for Best Documentary Film, and in Canada at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival in May.