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Sundance 2025 Review: GEN_

Approaching retirement Dr. Bini deals with patients going through vitro fertilization and gender reconciliation while navigating through bureaucracy and training his replacement.

While heading off to work, Dr. Bini collects some mushrooms that accompany him to the Milan’s Niguarda public hospital. He moves from medical appointments, surgery, staff meetings, government inspections, and ongoing battles with onsite construction workers for creating too much noise. Much of the time is spent in his office where the medical professional deals with everything from aspiring parents going through vitro fertilization and having to decide upon the desired height and skin colour of the offspring to patients wanting to alter their bodies to match their gender identity which involves in some cases removing sexual reproductive organs.

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Occasionally, there is a wide shot, but most of the time, closeup shots are favoured, focusing entirely on the conversation. It is amazing the access actually given to the filmmakers, given the personal nature of the subject matter and the extent to which people are prepared to put themselves through when it comes to drug intake and surgical procedures. This is not a trivial matter but something that has profound implications that are hard to comprehend for many.

None of the patients’ stories are followed from beginning to end as the narrative is loosely framed around the impending retirement of Dr. Bini and concludes with his youthful replacement taking over. In the way that this storytelling choice emphasizes ongoing need for expertise and sensitivity in this area of medical care. Still not quite sure about the whole significance of the mushrooms outside that it makes Dr. Bini an intriguing lead character with a great bedside manner. The handheld camera and muted colour palette add to the grittiness to the production which does not try to glamourize but to be an observer in the middle action. It all contributes to the day in a life quality.

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 23 to Feb. 2  2025, in person and online, and for more information visit sundance.org.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.

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