With breath-taking emotional honesty, Julia Scotti: Funny That Way is a tender, funny and powerful portrait of transgender comedian Julia Scotti that explores the unrelenting courage and humour it takes to be Julia.
In the comedy boom of the 1980s, Rick Scotti was a busy guy – appearing in clubs across the country, on bills with Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld – when he came to the powerful realisation that nothing felt right. At a time when the words gender dysphoria and gender reassignment surgery were rarely heard, Rick’s true awakening at age 47 led to a new identity as Julia Scotti.
And then everyone turned away: friends, family, comedy world buddies, and most painfully Julia was shut out from any contact with her children. She reinvented herself, spent a decade teaching, and then several years ago, stepped back on stage and began her journey back to the family she loves.
Shot over a period of five years, the documentary tracks Julia’s triumphant comeback and the complex process of reuniting with her children, as comedy becomes the shared language of identity, healing, and joy.
Julia Scotti: Funny That Way is released on Transgender Day of Visibility on 31 March 2023 and is produced and directed by Susan Sandler (Crossing Delancey).
