My plans to film Sakati, the waria with the young boyfriend, have been temporarily set aside. Sakati lives on a remote island 6 hours away by boat. There’s no electricity or cell phone service there. Trying to get in touch with her has been, as you can imagine, close to impossible. I’ve written her a letter and sent it over to the island via a boat…
In the meantime, I’ve started to film Suharni, another waria with a loving boyfriend. Suharni and her boyfriend Madi are a sheer delight to film. They’re completely comfortable in front of the camera, take direction well, and unlike my other subjects, only run 30-40 minutes late, as opposed to hours late. Suharni’s story is really interesting. She started out as a sex worker but stopped going to the streets after she met Madi. She’s also HIV+. A fact that she’s accepted with grace and gumption, turning herself into an HIV/AIDS awareness activist.
