An Okotoks couple is being recognized for a National Screen Institute Award.

Nick and Katherine North wrote, directed and starred in Just Another Beautiful Family, a short documentary about Nick's gender transition and the impact it had on their family.

The film split the Short Filmmakers Award at the NSI Online Film Festival. 

Katherine says what seems to resonate with audiences is just how relatable their family life is in the film.

"We've got the after-school forms, and lunch boxes, and vegetables no one's eaten," she said. "That kind of chaos of baskets of laundry and our life is just so family-oriented."

The film features the North's and their five children, in the weeks surrounding Nick's reassignment surgery.

The couple say they were blown away by the support and kindness of the Okotoks community since the film was released last fall.

"I think it was really heart-warming how warmly our family has been treated," Katherine said. "Our kids' experience in school has been amazing, the community's response has been so kind."

Despite the support from those close to them, Katherine says some sentiments expressed during the recent election were somewhat shocking to the family.

Nick says the film helps re-contextualize the usual narrative around transgender individuals. By showcasing their normal and loving family life, the hope is the stigma around trans issues can be decreased.

"Right now the narrative of trans people is that we're marginalized, and we're being murdered, and have a hard time using bathrooms, and all of those things are true," he said. "But there's also (the fact that) we're just normal people. Just like everybody else. We have partners, and parents, and kids, and friends, and jobs. We're just like everyone else."

Before filming of the documentary began, Nick and Katherine didn't consider themselves filmmakers, and that the film may not have seen the light of day if they'd known just how many challenges lay ahead.

"This definitely falls under the category of 'we didn't know what we didn't know,'" Katherine laughed. "Had we known how completely unprepared we were for this, we probably never would have had the guts to do it. It's sort of good we were so naive."

The film has been shown at the Calgary International Film Festival, and a number of online festivals as well. Next, the Norths are working on fundraising for their next project.

 

Questions, comments, and news tips can be sent to news@okotoksonline.com.