Why Can’t I Be Me? Around You

MON OCT 21 | 8:30PM | BROAD THEATER
WED OCT 23 | 11:00AM | THE RANCH THEATER AT CAC

Filmmaker in attendance. 

Rusty Tidenberg defies convention in every sense—she’s a brilliant mechanic and inventor who wrenches her own drag racing vehicle as well as her one-of-a-kind copper motorcycle and, in her spare time, she’s working on a rock opera. After hiding her true identity for 53 years, she came out as a transwoman. Though her friends come around to acceptance, her father’s ambivalence damages her chance at self-actualization. But Rusty isn’t holding back anymore. She wears revealing clothing and relishes the attention she gets, particularly over her breasts, which she admits are her obsession. Harold Blank (son of renowned documentarian Les) avoids a timid, quirky approach to this documentary, which practically radiates exhaust with a style that’s all Americana, hot rods, and wide open deserts. -KM