Ekachai Uekrongtham
Thailande 2003 35mm 116min. thai o.v. english s-t.

Directed with consummate grace, Ekachai Uekrongtham’s Beautiful Boxer recounts the epic true saga of Nong Toom, one of the most celebrated kick boxers in Thai history. Nong Toom ended his career the day he checked into a hospital to have his body surgically transformed into the woman he always knew he was. In the interim, he became a cult hero as he increasingly embraced his feminine side. The more mascara he put on, the fiercer he would fight, defeating scores of opponents and crushing long-held notions of masculinity along the way. Beautiful Boxer is a highly polished, heart-wrenching film that seamlessly reveals the specific humanity of one transgendered soul, and in so doing, opens our hearts and minds to what it means to be man, to be woman, to be human. – OUTFEST 04