For centuries, castrated “hijras” of the Indian subcontinent have subverted gender rules as a third sex. Risking severe penalties for speaking to outsiders, Meena discusses her life and the rituals of her closed community in this complex depiction of a people’s fight for survival. Devastated by poverty, AIDS, prostitution, and police harassment, the hijras have maintained a sharp-tongued candor, bawdy humor, and business savvy that enables them to continually reinvent themselves. In Hindi and English with English subtitles.

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Director Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan) describes her film as a “gender bending detective story about alternative families.” Shot in Barcelona with a star-studded cast that includes Judy Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Lili Taylor, and Juliette Lewis, this flamboyant comedy tells the story of Cassandra, an American translator living in Barcelona. Cassandra is struggling with the translation of a novel and in need of cash when femme fatale Frankie Stevens persuades her to play private eye. As Cassandra attempts to find Frankie’s missing husband, she quickly discovers that looks can be deceiving. In English.

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