Casa Susanna is a compelling documentary about a group of cross-dressing men/trans women in early 1960s America. Acclaimed French screenwriter/director Sebastien Lifshitz opens up a world few of us would know about had it not been for a set of photographs found at a New York flea market in 2004.

The early 1960s in the US were a particularly tough time for queer people. Homophobia was rife, few people were out and McCarthy-era witch-hunts were the norm. There wasn’t an established trans community. Casa Susanna, however, was a haven in upstate New York that offered respite from this daily grind. Owned by a fabulous Italian wig shop owner from Manhattan, Maria, Casa Susanna was a beautiful lodge set in hundreds of acres in the Catskills mountains. There, Maria and her husband hosted weekends of shows, gardening, board games, knitting, and cooking for groups of who back then self-identified as heterosexual cross-dressing men. Named after the alter-ego of her husband Tito, whom she met when he purchased a wig in her shop, Maria and Susanna would host female impersonator shows every Saturday night, drawing performers from across the country who played to an enthusiastic local crowd. The 10-15 performers would all stay at the house, and stay dressed as women all weekend. The variety shows would include erotic dancing, re-enactments of Swan Lake, impersonations of the Andrews Sisters, and so on. Most of the weekend though, the group were dressed in their Sunday best, going about their daily lives, a very non-sexual, unglamorous environment.

The men self-identified as heterosexual cross-dressing men to avoid being persecuted for being gay men or trans women. Many of them were married to women and their wives would often accompany them for the weekends. Heterosexual marriage was sacrosanct back then and divorce was something to be avoided if at all possible. Their wives, therefore, tolerated their husbands cross-dressing to save their marriages, often secretly hoping that it was just a phase. Of course it wasn’t just a phase and many of the men went on to fully transition into women once society became easier for trans people. The weekends offered total freedom for the attendees to be themselves.

The group of people met through Transvestia magazine, a US magazine founded in 1960, initially for the heterosexual cross-dressing community but later expanded to cater to the larger trans community. The magazine was a lifeline for its readers who had no other way of finding like-minded people. They could contact each other through the small ads. It’s founder, Virginia Prince, started the first cross-dressing organisation, the Hose & Heels club in 1961 which later evolved into the Foundation for Full Personality Expression (FPE).

Lifshitz’s beautiful, heartfelt documentary combines fascinating interviews, a great soundtrack, archive footage and images of life at Casa Susanna and the wider early 1960s in the US. His charismatic interviewees include Katherine and Diana, both of whom attended and performed at Casa Susanna and have both since transitioned, Maria’s grandson Gregory and Betsy the daughter of Donald/Doris, another attendee who wrote a book called A Year Among The Girls. The interviews take place at Casa Susanna, now rather dilapidated and uncared for. The interviewees are very charming and open, variously detailing lives back then, familial and other relationships, subsequent surgeries, love, professional lives, community and so on – truly fascinating, ground-breaking life stories. Casa Susanna operated from the mid 50s to the mid 60s. We learn that many of the men subsequently transitioned, some of them committed suicide and others were rejected by their families. Some of them continued their relationships with their wives post-transition. Although the tales include sadness, the overall mood of the documentary is positive and uplifting. There is a warmth and sensitivity to this special documentary which highlights how far society has evolved since then. Highly recommended.

Casa Susanna premeres on PBS TV on June 27th https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/casa-susanna/