By Daniela “Dani” Capistrano for TransLash Media
I highly recommend Ponyboi, which had its feature-length world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2024 on January 20. The unforgettable film stars the talented multi-hyphenate River Gallo, who also wrote and produced Ponyboi. During the Q&A, Gallo described a pivotal interaction between Indya Moore‘s character Charlie and River’s character Ponyboi as “the heart” of the movie.
In close collaboration, Ponyboi director Esteban Arango & River Gallo tell a riveting, cathartic, and often comedic story that unfolds over the course of Valentine’s Day in New Jersey. Ponyboi, a young intersex laundromat attendant and sex worker looking for love in all the wrong places, must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways—forcing him to confront his past.
While a significant takeaway from the film is the healing potential of self-love and forgiveness, if you’re not careful you might miss the most powerful—and history-making—moment in Ponyboi. River Gallo highlighted the scene during the film’s Q&A; it holds within it a multitude of trans and gender nonconforming lived experiences, rolled into one breathtaking and heartbreaking monologue divinely channeled by Indya Moore.
RIVER GALLO AT SUNDANCE 2024 REPLAY TRANSCRIPT
River Gallo: That scene in particular, I knew was the heart of the movie when I was writing it, and I also knew that I would need to collaborate with the actress that we cast in that role to take it to the next level. There were moments where it was going to get cut some. At some points it was going to get cut. And I was like, no, that is the beating heart of the movie!
But honestly it was, it was that challenge that made me kind of craft that scene more and more. And when we got [Indya Moore] on board, I told her, I was like, I need your help with this. And she was the one that educated me about the ballroom culture in New York and about the hierarchy of passing between trans women. And when a, when a trans woman is passing, you are on the upper echelon of of the community, and how toxic that is and how and it made me think about the different ways that all people are affected by the patriarchy, even within the the queer community, where one would think it would be a safe space, but it’s pervasive.
And so I knew. So with that information, [Indya Moore] and I, we worked on that dialogue together and we crafted that scene to a point where, yeah…
It was something so special to me too honestly, this is the first I’m— I can confidently say this is the first time a scene between an intersex person and maybe trans questioning person and a trans woman are talking to each other about the differences and similarities of their experience.
This is the first time that’s ever happened in cinema.
You all just saw history.
WATCH INDYA MOORE AT PONYBOI WORLD PREMIERE
In Ponyboi, an intersex runaway searches for love and a way out of his working class New Jersey neighborhood. Follow the film on social for updates: @ponyboi_film
Want more? TransLash’s guide to the 40th annual Sundance Film Festival is a living document being updated with trans-affirming films and resources through February 2024.
Did you find this resource helpful? Consider supporting TransLash today with a tax-deductible donation. Did we miss anything? Let us know and we’ll update the guide with your suggestion, crediting you as the contributor.
