Documentary that tells the story of the first trans woman in the Brazilian Armed Forces won the award for best documentary at the Humano Film Festival
Renata Rusky
On Sunday night, the Humano Film Festival took place, an event dedicated to awarding films that deal with human rights issues. The Brazilian film "Maria Luiza", by director Marcelo Díaz, which tells the story of the first trans woman in the Brazilian Armed Forces, won the award for best documentary. Maria Luiza served in the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) for 22 years as a corporal, when she discovered she was transsexual in 1998. But two years later, she was retired with half her salary, considered incapable, which started a lawsuit against her. FAB In May of this year, after 20 years of dispute, the Justice recognized that the action was discriminatory. Since 1998, Maria Luiza has gone through an extensive process of exploring female identity, with transgenitalization surgery and correction of civil documents. In 2008, for the first time in the country's history, Maria's military identity was issued with the name Cabo Maria Luiza.