Take Your Partners

Take Your Partners is a heart-warming tale of assertion of personal identity in the face of heteronormative gender conformity, a tale whose confident modernity is belied by the fact that its instigating incident is, of all things, an Easter bonnet.

Young Ollie (occasionally Olivia) is a footballer, a fan of Westerns, given to daydreaming that manifests as animated interludes, personalised match commentary, even a direct address from a newsreader (we'll preserve the identity of the cameo as a surprise, but it's probably not a spoiler to say they're as Scottish as a disappointing Hogmanay). Ollie's also sensitive, but it's the fragility of early adolescent discovery of self. Around Ollie are examples and mysteries to aspire to and explore, but it is the reaction to the challenge of a 'special hat' that gives the chance for crowning glory.

There's a good amount of technical prowess, focus effects and crisply constructed sound help build a sense not only of a world but of our protagonist's perception of it. Crowdfunded in part, and with a credit for support from LGBT Youth, Siri Rodnes has created a showcase for a talented young performer and an equally talented writer/director, a film that is at once delicate and deft.