Baby Steps

Directed, written, animated, and edited by Kira Findling, 2019.

Official Selection of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), CineYouth Film Festival, QT Shorts at the Jacob Burns Film Center, Alexander Valley Film Festival, Athens International Film + Video Festival, Newark International Film Festival, Trans Stellar Film Festival, Josiah Media Festival, F3: Frankly Film Fest, SPLICE Film Fest, Emerge Microcinema, and Reel Teel Film Festival (winner of Best Documentary Film)

Through texts, webcam videos, and secret moments, a young woman comes of age online. As she grows, she grapples with gender identity and sexuality, finding new language for herself.

“A work of art that is about as raw and intimate as it gets,” Baby Steps was chosen from 260 films as one of five Programmers’ Picks in October 2019 by NFFTY co-founder and director of programming Kyle Seago. “I was rooting for Kira from the second I realized what the film was about. … My support turned to awe as I realized how masterfully she had documented her difficult-yet-beautiful journey to self-love.” Baby Steps won T-Mobile’s Uplifting Voices Challenge at NFFTY.

Baby Steps was selected as the Jewish Film Institute’s Monthly Short for March 2020. Along with publishing an interview with Kira, JFI has permanently featured the film on its Youtube channel.

Kira was in conversation with filmmaker Catherine McCord about Baby Steps and the filmmaking process as part of the YouTube series NFFTY Connect.