In a conservative town in Mexico, Alex Reyes de Anda shakes off the constraints of expectation.
 | By Christine Kecher Senior Commissioning Editor, Op-Docs |
When the Op-Docs team at The Times watched "Victoria," we knew immediately that we wanted to bring it to our audience. |
The film tells the story of Alex Reyes de Anda, a transgender man who lives in a small, conservative Catholic town in Mexico. We were struck by his bravery in allowing the filmmaker, Eloisa Diez, to follow him as he becomes pregnant and gives birth to his daughter, Victoria. As Reyes de Anda says in the film, "She is a victory over the impossible." |
"Victoria," which we published this morning, does exactly what a documentary should do — it presents Reyes de Anda's story with a sensitivity and empathy that allows the viewer to connect with the full range of his humanity rather than view him as a symbol or archetype. |
"I thought I was building the typical man, a proven macho," he says in the film. "But with time I've realized I was not. I was building a much more flexible man than the one I thought I needed in my life. Much courage is needed indeed to break with what is already written. Because it has a cost." |
One of the costs was being rejected by the church. Still, he says, "the reward was bigger than all the fear we had." |
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