Transgender Pakistanis: The Open Secret | Real Stories Flamboyant, colourful and eccentric, many among Pakistan’s marginalised transgender community scrape a living through dancing, singing and begging on the streets of the country’s economic capital, Karachi. Many others, though, earn money catering for the sexual needs of local men in the city’s seedier districts. Investigating a never-before-seen side of life in Pakistan, this film from Oscar and EMMY award-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy follows the stories of three transgender people, who each represent a different way of life in the country. Maggie is a prostitute who dreams of becoming an air hostess, while Chahat was abandoned by her middle-class family to beg on the streets. Sana is Karachi’s most sought-after transgender dancer, desperate to give up the profession after a particularly gruesome gang rape. Is there any hope for these courageous individuals who want to stand out on their own? With exclusive access, this cutting-edge film goes behind the scenes of the transgender community to uncover the truth behind Pakistan’s Open Secret.
