‘Crossing’ Review: The Search for a Runaway Trans Relative Reveals a Seldom-Seen Side of Istanbul

Peter Debruge
·5 min read

Visiting Istanbul, you can’t help but notice all of the cats: The Turkish metropolis is swarming with strays, some gorgeous and friendly, others haggard and more stand-offish. Entire films have been made about the phenomenon (of which “Kedi” was an especially popular example). But what of the countless other souls — the human ones — who also live on the margins of this modern city? They too are invisible until noticed. But if you look closely, it becomes impossible to unsee the homeless children and street sellers, sex workers and immigrants, many of them struggling to survive.

With “Crossing,” writer-director Levan Akin wants to open our eyes to the easily overlooked. After earning international acclaim with Cannes-selected queer drama “And Then We Danced,” Akin makes a calculated choice to raise awareness of the trans community in Istanbul, but he does so through representation rather than manipulation. “Crossing” tells the engaging if somewhat meandering story of an elderly Georgian schoolteacher, Ms. Lia (Mzia Arabuli), committed to honoring her sister’s dying wish that she find her estranged daughter, Tekla (Tako Kurdovanidze).

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The movie informs audiences from the start that both Georgian and Turkish are gender-neutral languages. Beginning her search in the Georgian city of Batumi, Lia stumbles across a former student and poses the question: Has he seen Tekla? “She’s talking about those trans girls,” the guy’s younger brother, Achi (Lucas Kankava), butts in, and everyone suddenly seems embarrassed to have this detail thrust into the open. Right away, Akin reveals the cultural shame Lia’s dealing with, establishing a secondary agenda to her mission: She’s determined to locate Tekla, but she is also struggling to acknowledge and accept her niece’s identity.

“Crossing” unspools as a road trip — from Batumi to Istanbul — but the more significant journey for Lia is an internal one. Playing the character stern and proud, Arabuli takes no shortcuts to winning audiences over. Fortunately for Lia, Akin doesn’t require her to make it alone. Desperate to escape Georgia himself, Achi claims to have the address of where Tekla is living in Istanbul, thrusting himself on Lia as a translator and guide. In no time, it becomes clear that he’s more of a burden. Achi has no money and speaks no Turkish, tagging along mainly because he wants to escape Batumi himself.

Director Akin is of Georgian descent, but born in Sweden, and through the character of Achi, he comments on a younger generation back “home” frustrated by their limited options. In her 70s, Lia is nearly half a century older than this kid, but she doesn’t fit so neatly into the patriarchal system either. For starters, she never married, and though Lia lays down the law — no alcohol or narcotics — before they set out, Achi calls out this hypocritical “old drunk” for sneaking sips of chacha (a homemade Georgian liquor).

To reach their destination, Lia and Achi must take a combination of buses and ferries. During one of the crossings, DP Lisabi Fridell — who shoots handheld throughout — explores one of these large boats in a long, continuous shot, inviting audiences to consider, however briefly, the lives of the other, anonymous characters. The camera settles on two scrawny orphans on the lower deck, one strumming a guitar and singing to his “sister.” These are Izzet (Bünyamin Değer) and Gülpembe (Sema Sultan Elekci), who are no more related than Lia and Achi, though audiences can be excused for assuming otherwise. Upstairs, smoking on the top deck, is Evrim (Deniz Dumanl), a woman later revealed to be a lawyer and an advocate for trans rights.

For now, but not for long, the five characters are strangers. The movie lags a bit as Lia’s investigation proceeds from one dead end to another, and Akin starts to split his attention between the various threads. In a sense, this mix of outsiders and refugees resemble Istanbul’s many stray cats (a fair number of which make adorable cameos throughout). Akin seems to have a different observation in mind: Though biologically unrelated, these people connect and cling to one another like blood, forming ersatz families wherever they can.

Evrim meets a young student (Ziya Sudançıkmaz) who drives a pirate taxi in his off hours. While looking for work, Achi hits it off with a young woman (Derya Günaydın) at the same hostel. A fellow immigrant named Ramaz (Levan Gabrichidze) overhears Lia speaking Georgian and treats them to dinner. And so on. “Crossing” doesn’t wrap up the search for Tekla as neatly as audiences might like, but uses it to take viewers down the same streets where trans people gather in Istanbul, entering the rooming houses — little more than brothels, really — that provide some sense of community.

Compared to “The Searchers” and its spawn (any film where a cowboy type goes looking for a lost sheep), “Crossing” dares to question whether Tekla even wants to be found. Meanwhile, in tender, understated ways, the movie allows Lia to face her regrets. Through one anecdote — about a Georgian man who “accidentally” killed his own trans child — we come to recognize what Tekla was running from. Essentially inverting the John Ford formula, Akin’s tale suggests that Tekla’s relatives might need saving more than she does.

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