So Long! (2016)

So Long! follows Ran Ran's last days in Beijing. What caught my attention was not the story itself, which was too disjointed, but the synopsis.
Ran Ran is transgender and defines himself as pansexual. Yet the English description on Gagaoolala (which I intentionally left as is when I submitted the title to MDL), the female gender "she" is used. I wondered throughout the documentary if this was intentional to show that despite Ran Ran's trans-identity, he remains a woman to the administration, he remains a woman to the outside world, as was the case for some of his former work colleagues and academics.
At the end of the 25-minute documentary, I also wondered what happened to Ran Ran after he returned to his hometown. He had mentioned a rather serene relationship with his relatives during the interviews. Was he able to find a new job, did he meet someone? Is he still involved in advocacy for transgender rights? Many questions that will not be answered unfortunately.

Note: The Mandarin synopsis uses the pinyin tā to mark the gender neutral.

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