Divine Divas

Leandra Leal's 2016 Brazilian documentary is about eight travesti performers who began appearing on stage in the sixties. The same group meets on the same stage once more fifty years later, and the rehearsals are recorded. Leal does not conceal her family connection to that theatre and appears in the film herself. The performers are filmed both in their stage personas and at home without make-up; the narrative shows the difference not as a mask but as two separate lives. The conversations reach back to the period of military government and the risk of performing in those years. The documentary gives that history not as a lesson but in the performers' own words. Who it's for: those who follow Brazilian cultural history and queer stage tradition. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a comprehensive historical account; the film is bounded by what eight people tell.