Clown's Elegie

Colombia's Transwomen

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Colombia's indigenous Trans Women

Documentary / 51min / 2022 / D: Carmen Butta / P: Medienkontor Film GmbH

By day, they work hard like men. By night, they transform into what they feel they are: women. In their communities, they were despised and ostracized. Only at an altitude of 1,600 meters, on the coffee plantations of the Colombian Andes, have they found a refuge where they can be free and themselves. Nevertheless, the community of trans women still has to fight for recognition, both before the law and within the still strongly traditional population. The land of the "Embera Chami," the inhabitants of the Andes, stretches across the Colombian Andes, where fine coffee grows. The trade in the highland bean is still firmly in the hands of white people and the descendants of Europeans and indigenous people. Since it is no longer as profitable, more and more indigenous people are moving to the plantations as cheap labor. The coffee fields also represent a niche for Embera trans women. Here they find not only a livelihood but also protection. To this day, they face reprisals and oppression—not only within the general population but also within their indigenous communities. Many Embera believe that transsexuality is an evil brought by white people and must be fought fiercely.

Bella Wasorna, too, has begun a new life in this enclave. She was baptized Jesus Stiven 19 years ago, a name she fights tirelessly against because it is the most visible sign of her legal—and, in her view, false—identity. Now, her goal of legally changing her name is within reach. But the desired name change will be expensive, and Bella will have to work even harder on the plantation. At the same time, a major performance is being planned there, in which the trans women plan to dance in the center of the provincial capital to draw attention to themselves and their plight.

directed by CARMEN BUTTA cinematography CARLA MURESAN

sound DANIELA CANO

production MEDIENKONTOR FILM GmbH

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