Larger-than-life actress, cabaret performer, activist, and proud sex professional since the age of eleven, Luana Muniz - arguably one of Brazil’s most recognizable transgender personalities, shapes a new reality for a new generation of transgender sex workers in her hostel by providing a safe working environment in the dangerous neighborhood of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro. Queen of Lapa explores the day-to-day lives, quests for love, housemate rivalries in a turbulent political climate under matriarch Muniz’s watchful and guiding eye.

In the 1980s, an Army wife-turned-glamorous party girl named Tish ruled New York City’s downtown nightlife, often out on the scene with the likes of Michael Musto. Just a few years later, after more than a decade as a woman, Tish transitioned back to being Brian. Now, in his sixties, Brian reflects on the unique and fascinating turns his life has taken as he’s learned how to feel comfortable in his own skin.

"Following a bust-up with her girlfriend, Emilia returns from the city to her mother's village, somewhere in Patagonia. Her mother isn't overjoyed about Emilia's return, as this disrupts her peaceful existence. Emilia tries to decide how she wants to carry on with her life, but is confronted with people and feelings from her past. Bored and frustrated, or just looking for intimacy, she seduces a number of men, including her childhood sweetheart, but also falls in love with a girl at the school where she teaches gym – an obsession that distracts her from her broken heart and musings about the future." - Courtesy of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)