Translatina

Director: Felipe Degregori
Release Year: 2010

In 2010, filmmaker Esther Prade released Translatina, a groundbreaking documentary that emerged from three years of intensive production, over 100 hours of footage, and interviews spanning 15 different nationalities. This ambitious work paints a sobering, vivid portrait of the daily struggles and systemic challenges faced by transgender individuals throughout Latin America. More than just a film, Translatina is a critical social document and a call for justice and inclusion in a region where transgender people are often invisible, marginalized, and discriminated against. Transgender people in Latin America face deeply entrenched societal barriers. Often rejected by their families and communities, they endure harassment, discrimination, and violence that few outside their communities fully understand. These experiences are frequently denied or ignored by mainstream society, which perpetuates their invisibility.

De Pé a Pá: Roberta Close

Show: De Pé a Pá (TVN Chile)
Release Year: 1997

In 1997, Roberta Close, a Brazilian fashion model, actress, and television personality, made a notable appearance on the Chilean television program De Pé a Pá hosted by Pedro Carcuro. The interview, broadcast by Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN), provided a deeply personal insight into Close’s life, shedding light on her journey as a transgender woman in the public eye, the challenges she faced, and her complex relationship with her identit.

The Journey of Monalisa

Director: Nicole Costa
Release Year: 2019

In the 2019 documentary The Journey of Monalisa, directed by Nicole Costa, viewers are given a raw and poetic insight into the life of Iván Monalisa, a transgender artist and performer. Costa, in her directorial debut, unfolds a gripping narrative about Monalisa’s self-exile in New York City, where she lived as an undocumented immigrant and sex worker for over 17 years. Through a deeply personal lens, The Journey of Monalisa explores not only the external struggles of survival in a harsh, marginalized world but also the complex internal journey of identity, self-expression, and transformation.

Travesía Travesti

Director: Nicolás Videla
Release Year: 2021

Title in English: Travesti Odyssey

Travesía Travesti (2021), directed by Nicolás Videla, emerges as a powerful and poignant documentary that intertwines the personal, artistic, and political history of the trans and travesti community in Chile. As the final performance of the cabaret Travesía Travesti coincided with the social explosion in Chile on October 18, 2019, this film seeks to preserve the memory of the individuals who formed part of this avant-garde artistic collective. In doing so, the documentary navigates themes of friendship, betrayal, identity, love, conflict, and the violence that has shaped the lives of the trans community in Chile.

Niños rosados y niñas azules

Director: José Retamal
Release Year: 2015

"Niños rosados y niñas azules" (2015), a groundbreaking documentary directed by José Retamal, shines a light on the often-overlooked realities faced by transgender children and their families in Chile. The documentary aims to raise awareness about the challenges transgender youth experience as they navigate a world that is often unaccepting and hostile. Through powerful first-person testimonies, the film captures the stories of families who have fought - and continue to fight - to defend their children’s right to be who they truly are. At the heart of the documentary are the experiences of families supported by Fundación Transitar, an organization dedicated to supporting transgender individuals. These families recount the hardships they have encountered since their children expressed their true gender identity, whether that be girls identifying as boys or boys identifying as girls. The challenges they face include societal rejection, institutional discrimination, and the emotional and psychological toll of trying to live authentically in a world that often does not understand them.