What does it mean to identify oneself as trans*? In six personal portraits, FtWTF explores backgrounds and reasons of living sexual identities. And it looks at how lives change as a result of these decisions, starting with a given sexuality at birth and progressing to an uncertain destination – »what the fuck« – as the title says. In probing interviews, the protagonists talk in a disarmingly candid and humorous way about personal and state prerequisites, about the consequences and the sometimes bizarre circumstances of their decisions. Masculinity in the queer scene is another important subject that is discussed in the film.

Avoiding stereotypical narrative elements, the two directors break with the frequently told (and medically required) narrative of a painful coming-out, »of being born in the wrong body«. Instead, the film offers scope for non-binary identities and paints a realistic picture of sex changes as they occur today. Without voyeuristic elements, tragedy and pathos, the films offers a political analysis and a feminist perspective of the subject. In doing so, Thym’s and Lampert’s protagonists become heroes and heroines of gender difference.