Façade

Director: Sophia Vi
Release Year: 2024

The short documentary Façade released in 2024 and directed by Sophia Vi, invites the viewer into an intimate and visually poetic meditation on existence, identity, and the fragile architecture that holds a human life together. The film follows a transgender woman in the days after her gender affirming Facial Feminisation Surgery as she drifts between the relief of emerging into a long awaited self and the uncertainty of what lies ahead when the final veil falls away.

 

Sophia Vi chooses to frame this inner journey through the words of William Shakespeare's most famous speech beginning with the question To be or not to be. The result is a work that moves between documentary and lyrical reflection, offering not a medical account of transition but an exploration of the human spirit at a moment of profound transformation. Sophia Vi is a Transgender British Greek Cypriot writer, director, actor and the CEO of Koupepia Films. She trained at The London Studio Center and The International School of Screen Acting and her background in performance is woven into every frame of Façade. Her understanding of the body as both instrument and archive gives the film a distinctive emotional texture. The viewer witnesses her subject contemplating the mirror not as a device for vanity but as a portal between past and present selves. The Shakespearean text, spoken with tones of vulnerability and resilience, becomes a guide through this liminal space where the mind searches for certainty while the body heals.

 

The film has received notable acclaim. At the Iris Prize Film Festival 2024, Sophia Vi won Best Micro Short for Façade, a recognition that celebrates both her direction and her performance within the piece. This achievement sits alongside one of her most visible milestones in November 2023 when she was featured in the British Vogue x Nike x Not A Phase collaboration. That project, curated as part of Edward Enninful's representation campaign and guest edited by international transgender celebrity and model Munroe Bergdorf, placed Sophia among influential voices shaping contemporary LGBTQ+ storytelling and visibility. Her presence in that campaign underscored her commitment not only to artistry but to the cultural responsibility of representation.

 

Sophia's work as a writer has also garnered attention. She became a Semi Finalist in the LA Screenplay Awards 2024 in the Feature Film Screenplay category, an achievement that reflects her growing influence as a storyteller who refuses to limit herself to one medium. Her films have been selected by numerous national and international festivals including Bolton International Film Festival, Pride Pictures Karlsruhe, New York Transgender Film Festival, Free the Kitch Festival Athens, Bradford International Film Festival, North East International Film Festival, and the Iris Prize. Each selection signals the expanding resonance of her voice and the audience's hunger for stories told by transgender creators with depth, nuance, and emotional truth.

 

Beyond the screen, Sophia has built a significant presence in theater. She recently directed Good Boy by James Farley which played to sold out audiences at both the Camden and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and received multiple five star reviews. Her theatrical résumé includes directorial, movement, and associate work on productions such as Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd on its UK National Tour, The Mousetrap at St Martin's Theatre in the West End, and Dear Lupin at the Apollo Theatre also in the West End. This foundation in live performance contributes to the grounded and embodied energy that characterizes Façade. Her understanding of human behavior from a performer’s perspective brings authenticity to the film's quiet, introspective moments.

 

At the heart of Sophia Vi's artistic mission lies her identity as an actress first and foremost. She seeks to use her production company, Koupepia Films, to create opportunities for actors who are too often typecast, pigeonholed, or completely overlooked. Her aim is to develop short form LGBT+ and diasporic stories of joy that can later be expanded into long form features. This mission shines through in Façade which does not focus on tragedy or sensationalism. Instead it depicts a moment of rebirth with honesty and hopefulness. The film acknowledges pain but refuses to let it define the narrative. It celebrates the quiet bravery required to ask the question posed by Shakespeare and to answer it in ways that affirm life.

 

In Façade, the camera lingers on stillness as if waiting for the soul to step forward. The viewer watches a transgender woman rediscover her own reflection and consider the ancient question of existence. The film suggests that becoming oneself is not a linear pathway but a continuous dialogue with the past, with society, and with the inner voice that asks whether one has the courage to live fully. Sophia Vi captures this dialogue with tenderness. Her artistic choices remind the audience that transition is not only a physical process but a philosophical one. It is about deciding each morning to choose life, joy, authenticity, and the possibility of being seen.

 

What makes Façade a significant contribution to contemporary transgender cinema is the way it unites classical literature with modern trans experience. Shakespeare's soliloquy becomes a tool for examining the emotional landscape of transition. Instead of using it as a dramatic device associated with despair, Sophia reframes it as a contemplative mantra that accompanies healing. In doing so she places transgender identity within a broader human narrative. The question To be or not to be becomes not a lament but an invitation to reflect on the courage it takes to live truthfully. This film marks another strong step in Sophia Vi's expanding career. Her ability to navigate acting, directing, writing, and producing with clarity of vision positions her as a multifaceted creator whose work will continue to reach international audiences. Façade shows that she is not only documenting transition but reimagining how it can be portrayed. The documentary honors the vulnerability of the transgender experience while insisting on its beauty. It offers a portrait of a woman stepping into her own existence and invites viewers to consider their own answers to Shakespeare's enduring question.

 

via: sophiaviproductions.com

filmfreeway.com and imdb and filmfreeway.com

Image credits: sophiaviproductions.com