Tales of the Waria

Tales of Waria is a film that explores the lives of those part of the transgender community in Indonesia.


Synopsis:
Sakati devotes herself to a young man, even though she knows he will eventually leave her for a real woman. Mami Ria, a highly respected salon owner, decides it is better to be with a married man than to be alone. Ari lives a quiet life with his wife and two kids, but still dreams of a time when he had long hair and danced with men. Welcome to the world of the waria, Indonesia’s transgender community. Things are not always as they appear– especially when it comes to matters of love and happiness.

At a time when transgender communities around the world are largely ignored or misrepresented in the media, the 60-minute documentary video Tales of the Waria intimately explores how one such community confronts issues of love, family, and faith. Traveling to the world’s most populated Muslim country, the film trains its lens on the waria, biological men who identify as woman, date “straight” men, and are a surprisingly visible presence in a culture normally associated with strict gender divides. Interweaving the stories of three waria who make extraordinary sacrifices for love, Tales of the Waria creates a moving and unexpected portrait of a community that dares to live differently from the norm, despite what tragic consequences may await them.


http://www.thewaria.com


CHECK OUT THE TRAILER!! Please support the film through financial donations. They're in the final stretch of attempting to finish the film.

Tired.

I am too tired to even write. Dealing with all the problems going on in this world is exhausting being an activist. But, dealing with the world's shit on top of your family's shit just makes it all the worse. There are many days and nights when I just want to crawl into a hole and sleep there until I'm ready to come out. It can be for hours, days, maybe even weeks. There are many other times when I remind myself that shit's already hit the fan... deal with it and learn to live with it. However, I find living with it so damn hard. I cry and cry wishing for mercy and for all these problems affecting my family to stop. I have to tell myself to believe that things do happen for a reason. My strong and spiritual friend, Rosa, told me, "God..the sky.. (or whoever) chooses certain people to place their problems on because they believe the selected people are strong enough to handle it. God knows you're strong enough to get through it, why else were you picked to go through the problems?"

I tell myself, stop crying, stop moping. But, we all deserve moping passes (Miles even made me a moping pass!). When things settle, we also need to enjoy our lives because there's nothing we can do about the situations other than riding it out. So I'm just going to ride it out.... fiercely.