First Look at TIFF Sales Drama ‘Really Happy Someday’

J Stevens’s drama “Really Happy Someone” is one of the many titles in search of distribution at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Premiering Sunday night, the film stars Breton Lalama, Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah, Xavier Lopez and Ali Garrison.

The captivating story centers around Z (Lalama), before his transition, as a rising musical theater star struggling with his gender identity. One year into taking testosterone, he has finally started to feel at home in his body but has lost all control of his voice. At the same time, Z’s long-term partner, Danielle (Roberts-Abdullah), feels she’s lost the person she fell in love with. Unable to book work with his changing voice, Z starts bartending, where his new boss, Santi (Lopez), emboldens him to fight for himself and his dreams. Z starts working with a singing instructor, Shelly (Garrison), to learn how to use his new voice, and maybe even trust himself.

In a statement to Variety, Stevens spoke about the significance of the world premiere at the festival. “It’s validation for the years of work put into it, a nod to the level of talent and craft that was brought to it by our incredible cast and crew, and validation that stories such as these, stories that add to the 2SLGBTQ+ cannon, belong alongside the biggest films in the world.” Stevens added, “I’m excited to share Z’s journey with all audiences but I’m especially excited for folks who can relate to Z’s struggles and joys to feel represented and valid.”

Lalama also serves as the film’s producer and co-wrote the script with Stevens explained, “While also navigating my own, I was able to come to some pretty huge realizations about my own identity and the kind of man I wanted to be, in no small part as a product of having the chance to embody opposing truths while playing Z. The experience let me fine-tune my craft, make some sense of the most difficult parts of my personal transition, and taught me some things about myself that have become foundational to my life and identity.

Behind the camera, the crew were gender-diverse and/or queer. Said Stevens, “Getting to walk on to set where you didn’t have to explain yourself and who you are every day truly changed the way I view myself and made the future feel so bright and possible.”

Lalama hopes the story can spur more conversations. “FTM vocal transition is only just now, in the past year and a bit, beginning to be studied by medical and professional bodies. By making visible these nuances and realities of transness, we demystify the identity, and I do believe that demystification is a step towards reducing fear and hatred [which I believe is born in the belly of fear]. We also give trans people, be they closeted and struggling or out and thriving, a chance to learn a language of possible for themselves, or a chance to see themselves validated and made real by being reflected back at themselves.”

“Really Happy Someday” is a UTA sales title.

Watch the clip above.