The Garden Left Behind

Boasting a cast of over 50 trans actors and crewmembers, director Flávio Alves brings to the big screen the story of Tina (Carly Guevara in a memorable, debut role), a 30-year-old Mexican beauty and Eliana (Miriam Cruz), her grandmother – two women living together in a small New York City apartment while carefully navigating their lives so as to not step on each other’s toes.
Eliana misses Mexico whereas Tina who has lived in NYC since the age of six dreams of fulfilling herself and joins a trans support group. To raise money for the treatments and the expensive surgery, she works as a cab driver and goes to therapy with an elderly, kind-hearted psychologist (seasoned actor Ed Asner). She then picks up some shifts at Kevin’s pub (Michael Madsen of Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs). Meanwhile, she also starts going to demonstrations and is taking her first steps as a social activist.
The Garden Left Behind is a powerful, moving indie piece about the gruelling reality in the US under Trump’s transphobic regime and the rising far right.