'Madalena': Another Lonesome Transgender Death in Brazil
Shown last month as part of the official selection at the IFFR film festival in Rotterdam, 'Madalena' shows the reality of life and murder for the trans community in Brazil. The film is not a crime thriller, the police don't even appear, nor is the killer discovered, because invisibility and impunity are the hallmarks of violence against trans people. Instead, we follow the impact that the murder has on three people connected in different ways. For one the discovery of a body on their land might be a problem for his mother's political ambitions, for Madalena's friends her death is another mourning that they have to face with resignation. Amidst alarming statistics of growing violence against trans people in Brazil, Graham Douglas talks to 'Madalena' director Madiano Marcheti...
In 'Madalena' the three characters Luziane, Cristiano, and Bianca have almost nothing in common, beside the fact that they all live in the same rural city surrounded by soy fields in western Brazil. While they don't know one another, each of them is affected by Madalena's disappearance. In different parts of the town, each in their own way, they react to her absence.
When it comes to violence against trans-gender people in Brazil, the statistics are shocking, and we depend on a number of voluntary organizations to collect them because the Brazilian government does not. Violence specifically against trans people is on the rise: comparing 2008-2011 with 2017-2020: the average annual number of trans murders doubled (from 81 to 160) while the Brazilian population only increased from 194 to 209 million, and the annual homicide rate per 100,000 only increased from about 27.3 to 29.5. According to statistics gathered on culprits that are found (which mostly aren’t) 80% of the murderers have a military background.
A trans person grows up in Brazil is subject to exclusion from all sides, including school friends and their own family, are often murdered with extreme brutality, which killers frequently describe in detail, and the police often refuse to classify the murders as hate crimes. 56 % of trans murders were of people aged 15 - 29. The exclusion continues in employment, and it is estimated that 90% of transvestites and transexual women in Brazil earn a living from prostitution. Shocking too is the fact that 15 out of Brazil's 27 states do not record these murders as hate crimes. And it is well-known by now that Bolsonaro has spoken openly of his prejudices against all kinds of minority groups.
This is the context in which I interview Madiano Marcheti director of 'Madalena' the name of one of the victims of this increasing violence. The interview can be read in full, with links and film stills on the Latinolife website, where it was first published in 2021:
https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/madalena-another-lonesome-transgender-death-brazil