Valentina

This accomplished debut feature by Cássio Pereira dos Santos gives powerful expression to the struggles of a young transgender teenager in Brazil. Valentina and her mother move to a small rural town hoping to make a fresh start. When enrolling in a new school, Valentina comes up against bureaucratic barriers and must get the signature of her estranged father in order to enroll with her new name. With a strong central performance by trans actress Thiessa Woinbackk, Valentina provides vital representation to the Brazilian trans experience and is an empowering portrait of a young woman fighting for her rights.

‘In contemporary Brazil, around 80% of trans teens are out of school [and when] knocking on the door of an employer, they are at a disadvantage for two reasons. The first is that they are frowned upon by business owners due to their gender identity. The second reason is that most of these persons do not have a diploma to present. Unable to enter the job market and often rejected by their family, these young people end up appealing to prostitution as the only way to survive. I decided to make Valentina because it was important to make this situation more visible in Brazil and abroad, hoping that the film could generate a dialogue that leads to social change.’

Director Cássio Pereira dos Santos, from an interview with Diva magazine.