Synopsis
Changing gender on a ration card seems like a weird joke – but not in Cuba. Since 2008, it has been possible to undergo a sex change operation on the island, but as in the case of many other things in Cuba, there is a waiting list. Once a year for several days, doctors from Netherlands and Belgium come to Havana to perform gender reassignment operations on five people. Will the medical commission finally accommodate transgender activist Malú this year? Will Odette succeed in defending her decision before her religious community? And will gender reassignment surgery bring Juani luck in love? Also playing an important role in this documentary portrait by Dutch filmmaker Daniel Abma is Mariela Castro, who has long campaigned for the rights of LGBT Cubans.
Director Biography
Daniel Abma was born in 1978 in the Netherlands. He previously studied primary school education and worked as a youth worker in Berlin and Brandenburg. He studied film directing at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, with a focus on documentaries. His film Nach Wriezen (Beyond Wriezen) was shown at IDFA and at numerous other festivals. His follow up Hollanda Del Sol DOKLeipzig, DOK.Fest Munich and in Krakow. Transit Havana is his debut film.
Daniel Abma