MOVIES

A fascinating visit to the 'sex change capital of the world'

In their documentary 'Trinidad,' Austin filmmakers PJ Raval and Jay Hodges look at Colorado's transsexual underground that is very much above ground

By Chris Garcia
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILM WRITER
Thursday, August 28, 2008

Gracefully does the small town of Trinidad, Colo., wear its title as the "sex change capital of the world." It's a fact of life, taken with a shrug here, the random wrinkled nose there. Mostly, the population of 9,000 coolly accepts the designation with even, perhaps, a ray of pride.

File the phenomenon under: "When very progressive things happen to small rural towns."

It began when a Dr. Stanley Biber conducted the area's first genital reassignment surgery in 1969 and took off from there. In 2003, after performing almost 6,000 sex-change operations, Biber, then 80, handed over his practice to Dr. Marci Bowers. Marci used to be Mark, and she became the first transgender surgeon to perform these operations.

Two of her patients are Laura and Sabrina, and the three of them and their captivating life dramas are the focus of Austin filmmakers PJ Raval and Jay Hodges' documentary "Trinidad," which screens Thursday at the Alamo Ritz during the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival. The festival runs Wednesday through Sept. 7.

Avoiding "before and after" sensationalism — part of a sex-change operation is tastefully depicted — Raval and Hodges trace the women's personal stories with curiosity and sensitivity, using quaint, rural Trinidad as a mountain-girdled backdrop. As in any documentary worth its video stock, universality about the human condition is the subtext of "Trinidad."

"It makes (viewers) think about their own lives, if they're living on their own terms and really expressing who they are," Raval says. "If anything, it will give them the courage to be who they are."

The film's directors met five years ago as co-workers at Cinematexas. While Hodges is new to filmmaking, Raval has cultivated a long résumé that's made him something of an Austin film star. He's best known as the cinematographer on the features "Room" and "The Cassidy Kids" and the recent Sundance Film Festival documentary winner "Trouble the Water." He also shot "Trinidad."

Much of the crew on "Trinidad" boasts strong local connections, including editor Kyle Henry (the director of "Room") and executive producer Matt Dentler (former South by Southwest Film producer). Hodges and Raval express breathless gratitude to the Austin Film Society, City of Austin, AGLIFF and fellow filmmakers for aiding the production.

"It's about a town in Colorado, but it's really an Austin film," Raval says.

Earlier this summer, "Trinidad" enjoyed a well-received world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival, followed by screenings at Outfest. (Raval says they're negotiating for a distribution deal.) Playing it for Austin is something else, though. It's a homecoming.

American-Statesman: Why Trinidad?

Hodges: We heard about Trinidad at a dinner party from a psychologist of one of the patients there, because patients have to go through a year of psychological evaluation to make sure they really identify as a transgender. We were like, "Wow, there's this town in the middle of nowhere with tons of transsexuals in it?" It was built up with all this mythology created around it.

Raval: It sounded like a town where you walk down the street and there's transgender women everywhere. We saw articles that made claims that there were size-12 pumps in all the stores and lots of big women clothing stores all over.

Was there a lot of de-mystification once you got there?

Raval: Absolutely.

Hodges: We contacted Marci Bowers, the main surgeon in the film, and she invited us out to check it out and to talk in person. Our first trip was about five days in 2004.

Raval: It was initially a "research trip," but we brought our cameras and started shooting a little bit, met people and got the feel for the town. What interested us is that there really is this universal idea of acceptance and self-expression, which is something everyone goes through. This is just a particular form of it.

Hodges:Usually this subject is treated voyeuristically.

Raval: We were coming at it as personal stories, portraits of these women and what they've gone through to express who they are.

Hodges:We shot over two and a half years and spent about four months out there, so we really got to know the characters, and they opened up to us and let us in.

With the pickups, strong religious foundation and cowboy culture, there seem to be parallels between Trinidad and, say, any small town in Texas. Except, of course, for the transgender population.

Hodges: I grew up partly in West Texas and I was, like, "There's no way this could possibly happen there!" But it's been part of Trinidad's landscape for more than 30 years.

Raval: It's a small town and everyone has a stereotype about a small town, especially in America. That intrigued us. It defied the stereotype of small-town America. Generally you think of that as very conservative, very unaccepting.

Yet you show that side of the town in the film. Some of the interview subjects express distaste.

Raval: The question is: Can people coexist? And they do. That's what we set out to explore. Fine, we meet these people who say they're very religious and have a very specific value system. But does that mean they're going to actively impose their thoughts on someone else in the town? For the most part they don't. They're respectful.

Hodges: It's "live and let live." We heard that a lot: "Trinidad's a live and let live place."

Raval: "To each their own." "Who's to say?" We heard that one a lot, too.

What did you learn about people and life making the film? Any epiphanies?

Hodges: That my problems are really minor. (Laughs) I learned a lot of confidence from the women. They're incredibly strong people who've been through a lot. Look at Sabrina, who's been knocked down time after time. But she's still great, happy and confident.

Raval: They're incredible women who inspire both of us. They really know who they are and are committed to finding out who they are. They understand what the consequences are, but they also understand the importance of expressing yourself and being true to yourself.

Something that's a little sad is how most of the transgender patients are deep into middle-age and only now fulfilling their dream of complete transformation.

Raval: I think that all of them tried for several years to suppress what was in them.

Hodges: Sabrina actually says in the film that when she met her wife, she told her she was a cross-dresser. It became more of an identity issue, not just something she did on the side.

Raval:They come from a different age and generation. Transsexual and transgender issues are at the forefront now. You can read about kids who are 12 or 13 who identify themselves like that. There's a greater understanding of it, and people like Marci, Laura and Sabrina are out there educating people. That's something we're hoping to do with the documentary. Transgenders are part of every community. All the women in the movie were fathers, husbands, brothers. It's not like a small community tucked away somewhere. This is someone you might actually know.