Southern Comfort

Robert Eads, a chain-smoking, old-fashioned cowboy living in Toaccoa, Georgia, is dying from ovarian cancer. As a female-to-male transsexual, Robert, aged 52, was refused treatment by numerous doctors too 'embarrassed' to have him in their surgeries. Kate Davis' award-winning documentary follows the final year of a man determined to transcend the indignities society sees fit to afford him, and who - rather than resort to bitterness - chooses to fill his life with love, trust, hope and friendship. Eads saw the transgendered community as long overdue its rights and respect and calls eloquently and convincingly upon our basic humanity. Davis handles a story filled with complex personal issues and surprises with a sensitive and gentle touch. Never sensational nor sentimental, this is a film intended to open both eyes and hearts.