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CYCLE: East of Eden
Casa Àsia

The social reality of the transsexuals always has been tied to the image of the marginality, the exclusion and the lackof comprehension on the part of the whole society, even between the proper homosexual ones; nevertheless, the social and legal advances of the rights of gays, lesbians and transsexuals of last years, have put in the center of the looks this group that starts become visible in other areas of the daily life acceding to relevant positions of the culture, associations, the policy or the social activism.

The Mostra FIRE!! 2009 releases a new cycle - East of Eden - and it sedates the new one – Casa Àsia - to speak on the transsexuality with three very different documentaries, but all of them share the area of Asian countries, which gives us a new perspective on the transsexualityd in societies very different from ours: India, Iran and New Zealand.

The day of the premiere, Thursday, the 2nd of July, will take place a round table with specializing guests to share impressions with the public of the Mostra.


"Between the lines"

Director: Thomas Wartmann.
Producer: Film Quadrat.
Documentary, Germany, 2005
95 min

Synopsis:

"Between the lines" captures the life of the eunuchs of India -the Hijras- that live outcasts and isolated from the society. Officially, their existence is hopeless, and their universe is incoherent: on the one hand they are sterile, although the Hindu religion considers that they have a special talent for scattering the fertility for which they are worshiped and are searched for the people towin their favors. On the other hand, and apparently even if they do not have sexual organs, the eroticism is part of their day-to-day. A fascinating documentary about a reality foreign to the occidental world but imbricated in the social and spiritual reality of India.





"The birthday"

Director: Negin Kianfar y Daisy Mohr.
Producer: Gijs van de Westelaken
Documentary, Iran, 2006
63 min

Synopsis:

"The birthday" is a brave example of filmmaking. This documentary brings us the issue of a male to female sex change process in Iran, a country known for its religious zealots and strict social and political society. It show us the most important moments before, during and after the surgery. We meet the boyfriend, other transsexuals (among other, a woman in the female male process), the doctors, a religious guide, and specially the family.

Despite that everyone follows the social and religious rules of the country, this change brings some important questions, such as Why would a "free" man want to become a woman, and spend the rest of her life behind the Islamic Veil? A raw portrait of a life difficult to understand.





"Georgie girl"

Director: Annie Goldson, Peter Wells.
Producer: Annie Goldson.
Documentary, New Zeland, 2001
69 min

Synopsis:

This documentary tells us the story of Georgina Beyer, born George. Exotic dancer in night clubs, prostitute, actress and from 1999 the first transsexual in the world elected to become a member of a Parliament. If we add to all these things the fact that she is a Maori in a government dominated by white people, the story is even more incredible. Using archive images of her performances, TV images of the New Zealand transsexual community in the 70’s, and her video clips, for which she won a best actress award, Georgina tells us her story from her childhood in a rural town until her election to the National Parliament.