We have another double feature for our observation of Transgender Awareness Week and this month’s Church of Cinema screening. First is The Salt Mines (1990), followed by The Transformation (1995). Two documentaries that are sure to stir up many thoughts and feelings.

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The Salt Mines (1990) explores the lives of Sara, Gigi and Giovanna, three Latino transgender women who for years have lived on the streets of Manhattan supporting their drug addictions through prostitution. They made their temporary home inside broken garbage trucks that the Sanitation Department keeps next to the salt deposits used in the winter to melt the snow. The three friends share the place known as “The Salt Mines”.

Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 47m
Rating: NR. Audience discretion advised.

The Transformation (1995), depicts Ricardo- who was once Sara, a transgender woman from the documentary The Salt Mines (1990). Today he is a churchgoing, married man, “saved” by a Dallas ministry. He has renounced his homosexuality, but is his conversion complete? Susana Aiken and Carlos Aparicio offer an intimate look at Ricardo’s transformation.

Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 58m
Rating: NR. Audience discretion advised.