Betty Vakalidou

Yiorgos is released from prison after 14 years of incarceration for a murder he committed in his small Greek village. He spends his first night out in a cheap downtown hotel in Athens. There he meets Strella, a young trans sex worker. They spend the night together and soon they fall in love.

Between fiction and documentary, this film shows a portrait of the persona of a transsexual that goes far beyond simplistic voyeurism. The film offers a respectful image of masculine sexuality, with a character ahead of its time, through the telling of Betty about his childhood, daily life, pleasure, self-esteem and social marginalization.

Greece, 1977. A proposed law brings gay men and “transvestites” together in a historic event and sparks the creation of the first Greek LGBT movement. For the next 13 years, AKOE and its magazine Amfi, would define the way LGBT Greeks think about themselves. This film celebrates their story and legacy.

Paola, Betty and Eva are three trans women in their 60s who have known each other for more than forty years. All three of them started making their living early in their youth as sex workers in Athens, Greece. In “The Oleanders” Betty Vakalidou, Eva Koumarianou & Paola Revenioti revisit all the different places in the city where they used to work, socialize, get harassed or arrested by the cops, fight for their rights, have fun and find love. The unapologetic, humorous, and empowering discussion between Eva, Betty & Paola is a history of Athens as well as a history of sexuality in this region.