''Southern Comfort'' is a 2001

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about the final year in the life of

Robert Eads Robert Eads (1945–1999) was an American trans man, whose life and death was the subject of the award-winning documentary ''Southern Comfort (2001)''. Eads transitioned later in life, and as such it was deemed inadvisable for him to seek gen ...

, a

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

. Eads, diagnosed with ovarian cancer, was turned down for treatment by a dozen doctors out of fear that treating such a patient would hurt their reputations. By the time Eads received treatment, the cancer was too advanced to save his life.

Plot

The film begins in the spring and documents Eads' life through the following winter. Eads falls in love with Lola, a

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. He spends those remaining warm days in the company of his "

chosen family Chosen family—also referred to as found family, a family of choice, or ''hānai'' family—refers to non-biological kinship bonds that are intentionally formed, regardless of legal recognition. These relationships are often based on mutual care ...

": Maxwell, Cas, and "the rest". That summer, his mother and father drive ten hours to visit Robert, who is still their daughter in their eyes. His son and grandson also come to visit him that summer. His son struggles to gender him correctly and says he will always be "mom" in his eyes. But his grandson knows and has always known him as "papaw". Later that year, Eads makes his last appearance at the

Southern Comfort Conference The Southern Comfort Conference is a major transgender conference that has taken place annually since 1991. It features seminars, events, and speeches by prominent people in the LGBT community, numerous vendors catering to transgender and transse ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, a prominent

gathering. Already feeling ill, he addresses a crowd of 500 and takes Lola to what is for them a

prom A promenade dance or prom is a formal dance party for graduating high school students at the end of the school year. Students participating in the prom will typically vote for a ''prom king'' and ''prom queen''. Other students may be honored ...

that never was. Shortly after the conference, Eads dies in a nursing home with his chosen family beside him. After Eads' death, his

ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...

were spread across the family farm around a lone Christmas tree which was to symbolize Robert's many changes and blossomings in life. Eads' friends, Tom and Debbie King, also appear in the film. They saved Eads' life when he collapsed in a pool of his own blood while staying with them. They initially sought treatment for Eads but were unable to locate a doctor willing to treat a transgender man. Eads' lifelong struggle to have his outer appearance match his inner self is a salient theme in the movie. All persons portrayed in the movie wrestle with themes of rejection from others, rejection of self, feeling ostracized from humanity and ultimately crafting their own lives and personal support systems.

Stage adaptation

A stage musical, based on the film, was presented

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at the

Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: A ...

. The musical was conceived by Robert DuSold and Thomas Caruso, with book and lyrics by Dan Collins and music by Julianne Wick Davis, and directed by Caruso. The musical ran from February 22, 2016 (previews) to March 27, 2016.

Annette O'Toole Annette O'Toole (born Annette Toole; April 1, 1952) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She has received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She is known for portraying Lisa Bridges in t ...

was featured as Robert Eads, with Jeff McCarthy as "Lola Cola".Clement, Olivia
"Transgender Musical 'Southern Comfort' Opens Tonight"
Playbill, March 13, 2016 The musical had a workshop production by the off-off-Broadway CAP 21 Theatre Company from October 6, 2011 to November 5, 2011. The musical then was produced at the

Barrington Stage Company Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is a regional theatre company in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, and former Managing Director Susan Sperber in Sheffield, Massachusetts. ...

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfi ...

, in July 2013, as part of the BSC Musical Theatre Lab. Julianne Wick Davis and Dan Collins won the Jonathan Larson Grant in 2012. The stage adaption faced some criticism for its failure to cast more trans actors. All but two of the roles had been filled by

cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...

actors. However, Pride Films & Plays in Chicago announced a new production in 2019 featuring trans performers playing all five transgender characters.

Awards

*Grand Jury Prize (Documentary),

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

2001 *First Prize,

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...

*Special Audience Award,

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

* Best International Feature Documentary, 2001

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and Jun ...

Brenda Bouw, "My Left Breast wins gold award at Hot Docs festival". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', May 8, 2001.

References

External links

New Wave Films
*

{{Sundance Grand Jury Prize Documentary 2001 films 2001 LGBTQ-related films Transgender-related documentary films Documentary films about cancer 2001 documentary films Transgender health care Films about trans men Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state) Biographical films about LGBTQ people 2000s English-language films Films directed by Kate Davis 2000s American films Sundance Film Festival award–winning films American LGBTQ-related documentary films English-language documentary films

Plot

Stage adaptation

Awards

See also

References

External links