A Fantastic Woman

Original title: Una mujer fantástica (Chile, Germany, 2017)

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Cast: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Küppenheim

Genre: Drama

Plot: Marina and Orlando are a happy couple, despite their twenty-year age difference. Marina is a transgender woman and, because of this, was never accepted by her partner's relatives. Immediately after Orlando dies of a heart attack, Marina is evicted from the house and accused of being responsible for the man's death.

Notes: Winner of the 2018 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Flawless

Original title: Flawless (USA, 1999)

Director: Joel Schumacher

Cast: Robert De Niro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Barry Miller

Genre: Drama

Plot: Walt Koontz is a retired security guard, former Marine, ultra-conservative, fitness fanatic. One night, while rescuing neighbors, he has a stroke that leaves him paralyzed.  It becomes hard for him to move and speak intelligibly. After an initial period of self-isolation, he begins rehabilitation. The person who will help him the most in this journey is Rusty, his neighbor, a drag queen who, until that moment, Walt had demonized. A deep friendship is born between the two.

A Florida Enchantment

Original title: A Florida Enchantment (USA, 1914)

Director: Sidney Drew

Cast: Sidney Drew, Edith Storey, Charles Kent

Genre: Comedy

Plot: A peculiar film, which today would be called fantasy. Lillian, a rich girl, is about to get married when a magical seed turns her into a man, while her boyfriend changes into a woman.

Forever Mery

Original title: Mery per sempre (Italy, 1989)

Director: Marco Risi

Cast: Michele Placido, Claudio Amendola, Francesco Benigno, Alessandro Di Sanzo, Tony Sperandeo

Genre: Drama

Plot: Based on the novel of the same name by Aurelio Grimaldi, the film is set at “Malaspina”, a juvenile prison in Palermo. The main protagonists are a literature professor, recently transferred from Milan, and his students, the inmates of the reformatory. Despite the initial mutual distrust, little by little, the professor manages to win all the boys over. The title is inspired by the story of Mery, a transgender girl rejected by her family, who ends up in prison after having seriously injured a casual customer.

Notes: Based on the novel of the same name by Aurelio Grimaldi, the film is set in a Palermo juvenile prison.
The film won the Efebo d'oro (international film award given to the director of films based on literary works) in 1989, and the Ciak d'oro (award for Italian cinema assigned by the magazine of the same name) in 1990 as best film.
The film had two sequels: Ragazzi fuori (1990) directed by Marco Risi and Vite perdute (1992) directed by Giorgio Castellani.