Lotus Sports Club

Whilst the mass media and a number of senior politicians in the UK continue to treat trans people’ identities as a topic for debate, other parts of the world are very different. For several years now, Cambodia has required the existence of trans people to be discussed as part of basic education, in a bid to clamp down on prejudice. This will take a long time to work its way through society, and prejudice still remains, especially amongst older people, but this altered approach has boosted young trans people’s confidence and their voices are starting to be heard. This documentary charts the story of two teenagers who live in the care of a middle aged trans man who initially came into their lives as their football coach.

Almost half the members of Lotus Sports Club are LGBTQ. It’s a safe space for them, and several of those who have been thrown out or found their previous circumstances untenable have moved in with coach Pa Vann and his partner Sophorn. There they get to play their favourite sport on a frequent basis, but they also learn handicraft skills – particularly carpentry – ensuring that they will have a trade to fall back on when they grow up and leave. They also do chores such as looking after the ducks, which they seem to delight in. Dogs and cats wander around the house and its outbuildings, and at one point the teenagers chase each other with a frog.

Lorn Srey Leak, who is just about to turn 18 when the film begins, explains that he has felt male since he was six. His single father, a former lorry driver with whom he is still on friendly terms, jokes about how he used to fend off comments about Leak’s short hair by telling people that it made him run faster. The kid demonstrates good footwork and, early on, an impressive goal. The team he plays for is for girls under 21, but nobody objects to the presence of trans male players, and as nobody has an access to hormone treatment, issues around fairness don’t arise. The players skid around on a dirt pitch, the top talents in Kampong Chhnang province. In due course they will drive to Kampot to participate in a tournament, and then it’s on to the bright lights on Phnom Penh for the nationals, where they take on teams from Battambang and Siem Reap, playing on grass in pouring rain.

Tommaso Colognese and Vanna Hem’s film, which screened at the Cambodian International Film Festival and is now at Newfest, is packed full of richly observed detail and explores numerous themes. We hear a great deal from Leak and his friend Amas, who reflect on their developing ambitions, the difficulty of pursuing them whilst trying to do right by Pa Vann, the problem of their girlfriends’ parents disapproving of their relationships, and the surgery, learned about on Facebook, which they would pursue if they ever got rich. There is also a detour into Pa Vann’s history and Sophorn’s feelings about their relationship. Issues around poverty and class frequently arise, with the trip to Phnom Penh leading to revelations about how the other half live. Leak is always generous with what he has. In one scene, he and a girl buy a caged songbird so that they can set it free, first lecturing it on the importance of flying far away and never coming back.

It is quite a thing to think that Pa Vann must have grown up under the Khmer Rouge and had to contend with famine. He is robust and full of warmth, a reassuring paternal figure, though clearly pained by the awareness that the kids he is raising will leave as all kids do. Leak and Amas plan to look after him, one way or another. They are growing up in a country which is unrecognisable from those difficult days, moving boldly forwards. Despite the challenges they face, the world seems to be opening up to them. There are plenty of tragic trans stories in cinema today. This is a story full of life and possibility.