Release Year: 2010
Original title: En el cuerpo equivocado
Synopsis:
En el cuerpo equivocado (2010), a documentary directed by Marilyn Solaya, offers a poignant and deeply insightful look into the life of Mavi Susel, a Cuban woman who became the first transgender person in Cuba to undergo sex reassignment surgery in 1988. The film, which premiered in Cuban theaters in 2010, presents Mavi's journey of self-discovery, societal rejection, and eventual acceptance, all while exploring larger issues of gender identity, patriarchy, and the Cuban social landscape.
The film tells the story of Mavi Susel not just as a personal narrative of transition, but as a critical commentary on Cuba’s societal expectations of women. Mavi's transformation is marked by the groundbreaking surgery she underwent at the hands of Cuban medical professionals, an event that had a profound impact on Cuban society at the time. The operation, which occurred on May 22, 1988, made Mavi Susel the first person in Cuba to receive a sex reassignment surgery. The attention this garnered in the media was not entirely positive, and the public response was so negative that it led to a hiatus of nearly 20 years before sex reassignment surgeries would again be made available in the country. The initial backlash came after the Cuban newspaper Juventud Rebelde published an extensive report on Mavi’s surgery, sparking controversy and pushing the Cuban government to halt similar procedures for nearly two decades.
