Tamara (2016)

Directed by: Elia K. Schneider | 110 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Luis Fernandez, Prakriti Maduro, Mimi Lazo, Karina Velasquez, Carlota Sosa, Julie Restifo, Alberto Alifa, Tamara Adrian, Juan Andres Belgrave, José Manuel Suárez, Sebastián Torres

Teo feels like a woman all his life. During his student days he leaves for Paris, to send law there. In the French capital, he befriends like-minded people and can be his flamboyant self, but when his mother falls ill, he is forced to return to his native Venezuela. There he conforms to the applicable gender norms in order to be able to participate in society. ‘Tamara’ is based on the life of Tamara Adrián, Venezuela’s first transgender politician.

When Teo visits his parents in Venezuela after a liberal period and successful law studies in Paris, he is determined to quickly return to his free-spirited life. But when his mother turns out to be seriously ill, Teo chooses to give up his life in Paris to take care of his mother, the only one who gave him any support during his childhood in Venezuela. Over the years, he adapts more and more to his role in Venezuelan society, where his transsexuality is simply not an option. He initially applies in heels and with make-up, but soon notices that he doesn’t stand a chance. He is indeed more successful with cropped hair and men’s clothing. For example, Teo is starting a flourishing career as a lawyer and in that capacity has no shortage of female attention. Thus he meets the beautiful and gifted pianist María. They get married and have a daughter and a son.

The blood, of course, creeps where it can’t go, and Teo notices more and more that he can no longer keep up the facade that is his life. This is made clear to the viewer in subtle actions: Teo can close the clasp of a pearl necklace more easily than his own tie. He is annoyed by the strict gender roles that his wife assigns to their two children. Going against the grain, he eventually begins the transformation into who he should have always been.

A large part of the film is carried by the Venezuelan actor Luis Fernández, who plays the role of Teo/Tamara very powerfully. His body, clothing and attitude carry an important charge because they depict the field of tension in which Teo moves. Then again desperate by the feeling of being trapped in his own body, then again ecstatic and extravagant when he goes wild on the dance floor at wild parties. It is precisely those contrasts – vulnerable versus powerful, male versus female, exuberant versus modest – that come to the fore in the film. The quest for transformation is not a straight line, not a black-and-white process in which everything is clear. “What hangs between someone’s legs doesn’t define them,” Teo says, explaining that he will still be the same person after his transformation. Then why is an operation necessary?, the women in his life ask him, uncomprehending. To reinforce Teo/Tamara’s inner struggle, director Elia Schneider makes full use of symbolism. His wife’s name is of course María and the Catholic cross around her neck is frequently depicted to emphasize her piety. Schneider occasionally makes use of this a little too blatantly. Later scenes with Teo’s new girlfriend Ana, the transgender prostitutes he meets and the painful humiliations he has to endure at university and at customs, are quite impressive.

The moving and moving film is based on the life of Tamara Adrián, one of the foremost LGBTQ lawyers and Venezuela’s first transgender politician. In 2015, Adrián was elected under her male name Tomás Adrián Hernández – because a name change is not recognized by law – as a member of parliament for the Voluntad Popular (Volkswil) party, which opposes the rule of President Nicolás Maduro, including for equal rights for all. hardly any space. The current nature of the story makes one hope for a sequel, perhaps in ten years’ time: a part 2 in which Tamara’s life is told from the moment this film ends.