The Brazilian transgender activist Luana Muniz was considered such a fascinating character that her life has been the subject of no less that three documentaries. This latest one by Theodore Collatos, and Carolina Monnerat was completed just before Muniz died og a heart attack in 2017 aged 59.
She was larger than life figure who had transitioned at an early age (‘I’ve had by breasts operated on 14 times’ she proudly boasted) and she went on to become a surrogate mother figure sheltering transexuals, prostitutes, and HIV-positive people, in her big house in Rio de Janeiro’s downtown nightlife area known as Lapa.
This fascinating piece of cinema verite captures the daily routine in Mama Muniz’s hostel as her ‘girls’ get ready for a night on the streets looking for clients to bring home. Despite the unspoken rivalry there is a cozy camaraderie between them all as they share stories of the reality of leaving their villages in the country and eventually finding their true identity. Many of them dream of falling in love and having families of their own even though it seems such an unlikely scenario from where we are sitting
Mama rules over it all with a gentle rod always generously dispensing advice and passing on bon-mots from her own experiences. She is not their pimp or Madame but simply their Landlord who allows them to bring ‘johns’ home. She claims there is nothing exotic about her life despite her appearance, except when she is on stage in a club scantily dressed and seductively lip synching .
Despite all the bravada captured on camera Muniz is the first to admit how very tough it was to get this far with her life, and the safe space she had created for her coterie of young girls. But even her detractors grudgingly admits that the social work she does and being one of the creators of a project that offered education for the trans community of that city, should be applauded.
The documentary neither sees her life through rose colored glasses but it also spends very little time on the personal dangers that her girls can face. As for the ebullient and charming Muniz , she just screams at people “Do you think you can mess with transvestites?” No, you would not want to do anything to face her wrath!
