Sharlene Esse

In the future, no one could be free. A man travels back in time and returns to Capitão Lima St., in northeastern Brazil, trying to relive the party where he kissed another boy for the first time. With only some minutes to spare, he discovers he has arrived in the wrong year and that now he only has the memories from the street to rediscover his freedom. Just like the film’s director, who found his own freedom in the same place, the man realizes it is not in his memory where he will be free.

Called by a mirrored globe as extinct from the dance floors as the very nights of glory, feathers, and sequins, six veteran performers from Recife revisit their pasts and relive their most intimate memories in front of the cameras, and a present soaked in nostalgia. Pioneers of a revolution still in progress, they are and always will be Queens of the Night.

Directed and written by Aurora Jamelo and Sophia William, “Incendiárias” compiles scenes of trans women and transvestites performing in public spaces in Pernambuco. The images sometimes tune in to these women's dreams and desires, their roots and truths; sometimes they denounce fears, frustrations and aggressions experienced daily - a provocation and, at the same time, a manifesto for the existence of this population.

Recounting real events inspired by the revolutionary theater group that transformed the artistic scene in the city of Olinda in the 1970s, Once Upon a Time Diversiones tells the story of newcomer Sharlene Esse’s first night—and future first transgender leading lady of Pernambuco theater—at the most charismatic performance house in a not-so-distant kingdom.

In the future, love will be a frequency.

2050. The world as we know is about to be destroyed by a pink cloud. Away from the cities and lost on inhabited roads, Pedro and Miguel search for eternity.

Recounting real events inspired by the revolutionary theater group that transformed the artistic scene in the city of Olinda in the 1970s, Once Upon a Time Diversiones tells the story of newcomer Sharlene Esse’s first night—and future first transgender leading lady of Pernambuco theater—at the most charismatic performance house in a not-so-distant kingdom.