Trinidad is a documentary directed by PJ Raval and Jay Hodges. It follow the lives of three transgendered women (Marci, Sabrina, and Laura) in the small town of Trinidad, Colorado - the "sex change capitol of the world."
I found this documentary to be very insightful and very well done. There was a good element of trust between the subjects and the camera that made the filming appear natural and allowed the audience to see these three women with their guards down (to the extent that can be done with a camera in your face). I thought it was an interesting subject as transgendered issues are not normally attached in our minds to small towns such as Trinidad. The audience was given an opportunity to experience the communities reaction to the influx of transgendered individuals to their town and the ways in which the two have affected each other.
After the screening, the two directors spoke with the audience about the filming process and answered any questions we might have. They explained the close relationships they formed with their subjects as they spent months with them shooting this film. The screening took place during the LGBT film festival which, I believe, allowed for a deeper level of dialogue given that this was definitely a targeted audience. The directors gave follow up comments on the lives of the three women and the ultimate demise of the rehabilitation home Sabrina and Laura were working on completing throughout the film.
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A few of us, thanks to Ellen, had the opportunity to see Trinidad and When The Light's Red at the Alamo Ritz, which featured a Q & A with the directors. When The Light's Red is a funny short that defied the popular disinterest with Austin panhandlers by bringing to light the discomfort that most of us feel each time our cars stop at one of their corners. Keith Wilson exposes his inner conflicts with the quiet avoidance of fellow humans who have turned in their dignity to ask complete strangers for charity. One of their signs, which reads "This sucks for me too," raises questions about the individual stories of these men and women, and no longer allows us to prescribe the same presumptuous solution to them all--get a job. Keith is able to, without even interviewing these "flyers," speak candidly on both sides of the issue. His insightful, and sometimes schizophrenic self-reflection is not only humorous, but sitting in the theater I could feel that it truly resonated with his audience.
Trinidad similarly impressed me with how well-rounded and thought-provoking it was. I had never even heard of Trinidad, the sex-change capital of the US. The establishing shots were beautiful, but also depressing--a synecdoche for the film at large. The shots transported me to another time, untouched by modern big-city frills. But the nature of the subject matter exposed its present-day setting. The characters were strong. Each of them were at very pivotal times in their lives, something we know to be very important to the narrative aspect of the documentary. They were laudable heroes for their tremendous courage but their sexual rebirth displayed their latent childlike tendencies that can only come with the struggle to uphold a false identity until adulthood. What these women experience is incredible, and the task to tell their stories with due respect is not one that many could undertake. PJ Laval and Jay Hodges managed to do this. Their conscious decision to include graphic footage of the operation, though very hard to watch, was a painful jolt into the reality of a transgendered person. Merely talking about their journeys without fully portraying the gravity of the situation would not have done their stories justice. These people are not just lessons in diversity. They are real people.
Maybe the most enlightening aspect of the film for me, someone whose prior interest in the subject matter had already pushed me to learn a lot about it, was the response of the residents of the small town. In the beginning of the film, a handful of interviews exhibited the lack of compassion of residents of Trinidad who seemed to feel afflicted by the reputation of the town. But by the end of the film, we are gratified by a shift towards pride and dignified acknowledgement of the growing industry of Trinidad and its societal implications. The very last scene is beautiful. It is a surprising example of the progressive effects that the location of a sex-change industry can have on a seemingly close-minded society.
The Q & A was short, but it revealed the devotion of the directors to a just portrayal of their sensitive subject. The directors embedded themselves in the town dynamic to first understand and then document the true zeitgeist of Trinidad, something I believe they accomplished brilliantly.
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