Southern Comfort

Kate Davis's 2001 documentary records the last year of Robert Eads's life. A trans man, Eads developed ovarian cancer; most of the doctors he approached refused to treat him and the illness advanced. The documentary does not turn this into a narrative of victimhood. Eads lives in rural Georgia surrounded by a family he chose; his partner Lola Cola, his friends and the people who visit them are given the same weight. The narrative moves towards an annual gathering. Eads wants to live that long and to speak there; the documentary advances towards that goal and shows the consequence of medical discrimination through the event itself rather than through argument. Who it's for: those who follow documentary on trans lives and narratives about the health system. Who it's not for: viewers for whom watching an illness approach death would sit heavily.