The Year We Thought About Love

Filmmaker Ellen Brodsky shadows a youth theater troupe for eight months in this engaging documentary. The actors, ranging in age from 14-22, belong to Boston's True Colors, which focuses on stories about LGBT life. The participants, spanning the racial and cultural spectrum, bring their unique experiences to the mix, variously identifying as gay, transgender, and genderqueer. Eighteen-year-old Delandre dresses like a boy while living under his mother's roof, but plans to transition to female once he leaves home. Nineteen-year-old Giftson grew up thinking he was the only one of his kind, because he never met any other gay Haitian-Americans (his parents combined “gift” and “son” to create his name). Nick Bazo, the director of True Colors, prepares for his wedding during the film, and worries about kissing his fiancé in front of his conservative mother. Aside from the usual high school concerns, Nick's charges also deal with bullying and homelessness due to their orientation, so he doubles as a counselor and confidant. Brodsky films the troupe members at school, in rehearsal, and at home. Although many have found parental acceptance, their communities haven't always been as welcoming. Seventeen-year-old Roxas's mother, Denise, worries a lot, since a stranger once attacked him while he was walking home with his sister. Through their involvement with True Colors, the participants learn how to write, act, and work through their problems. Brodsky catches up with the central subjects a year later and finds that all of them, including Alyssa (formerly Delandre), are living life on their own terms. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)