A refreshingly original, sci-fi-tinged exploration of gender, reproduction, normativity and family that follows two couples struggling with infertility.

Could a cisgender man bear a child using an ovary implant? In Pedro Neves Marques’s probingly philosophical science fiction short – winner of Rotterdam’s Ammodo Tiger Short Award – gay couple Carl and Vicente are undergoing an experimental procedure in order to have a biological child. Meanwhile, straight couple Mirene and André have their own infertility issues. Becoming Male in the Middle Ages is a complex, thoughtful exploration of a loaded subject that walks the high-wire with delicacy.