Céline Roustan

In Hello Stranger, director Amélie Hardy positions the audience as an onlooker – starring at participant Cooper Josephine Holt in a public place, a situation she is way too familiar with. Except that this time, Cooper looks back at us, and tells her own story. Through her narration, reenactments and home footage, Hardy paints Cooper’s portrait and takes us on her gender reassignment journey with sensitivity and a raw authenticity that makes the film incredibly powerful. 

There is something very cinematic about a laundromat – both visually and narratively. A place of cleansing, the act of “washing our own laundry” perfectly serves a story focused on sharing the inner truth of an emotional journey. Cooper, who is also credited as co-writer on Hello Stranger, explains very early in the film how cathartic it feels for her to finally get to look back at the people staring at her in a public space and reclaim her voice. The setting also helps to structure the pacing of the film: we’re with Cooper as she does her laundry and she has one cycle to share her story. This subtle yet effective framework contributes to making the short all the more compelling. 

“The lie I tell myself most often is that I’ll never be considered a woman as long as I have a male voice”

Hardy first met Cooper while working on a documentary series. When asked “What lie do you tell yourself most often?”, Cooper answered, “the lie I tell myself most often is that I’ll never be considered a woman as long as I have a male voice”. That answer prompted Hardy to to reflect on broader questions of feminism and gender: “What makes us women? Men? How can we uncover these social codes and expectations to prevent them from restraining us?” What began as a brief encounter ultimately turned into the beginning of their collaboration, which ultimately became Hello Stranger.

From the outset, Hardy and Cooper had a clear intention when crafting the film – to “bring people together and foster more understanding and empathy.” With the film was conceived as a response to how “the media and conservative ideologies are stigmatizing and dehumanizing the trans community”. That mission is present throughout the film as Cooper shares her story from early childhood to the gender dysphoria triggered by puberty, and finally to adulthood, where she stands with agency. While Cooper shares the ups and downs of her journey, the film carries humor and warmth making it feel personal and empowering. 

Cooper sharing her story from the laundromat

The way that Hardy plays with documentary codes is what makes Hello Stranger such a unique and powerful film. Myriam Payette’s (Oasis) striking cinematography creates a visual flair that complements the narrative journey, while Joseph Marchand’s score makes the film even more emotionally engaging. The decision to place Cooper, as an adult trans woman, in the middle of the reenactments of her childhood is especially effective – depicting her sense of place at the time. The use of the mask in her teenage years is also incredibly potent – conveying how she felt like an alien in her community and in her own body. 

Hello Stranger is currently FYC in the Best Documentary Short category at the Oscars. After its World Premiere at the 2024 edition of SXSW, the film had an impressive tour of the festival circuit with notable stops at Regard and Rotterdam, picking-up awards and special mentions at Winterthur and Palm Springs. It was also awarded Best Short Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards.

Hardy is currently completing a new documentary (which should be premiering very soon) about an “80-year-old man living in suburban Toronto who decided to let his lawn grow for environmental reasons” – chaos ensues! Simultaneously, she is also in post-production of a feature documentary “exploring the role of women in Quebec politics”.