Film director Agustina Macri believes things happen for a reason. That includes the timing of her latest film Queen of Coal, a biographical drama about the first trans woman to work as a coal miner in Patagonia. The film premiered in theaters earlier this year and, as of today, is available on Netflix.

Queen of Coal is based on the remarkable true story of Carla “Carlita” Rodríguez, a trans woman who struggled through a life of discrimination and violence to become the first female coal miner in the town of Río Turbio, Santa Cruz, in 2011. Starring Chilean-U.S. trans actress Lux Pascal, the film chronicles Carlita’s battle to enter a male-dominated industry long bound by an 80-year-old superstition that women underground brought bad luck.

Mining culture in Rio Turbio, Macri explains to the Herald, goes far beyond people’s wages.

“It runs through the people in every way, their routines, their daily life. The mining company employs about half the town,” she says. Most of the people in the film are locals, a choice she made to reflect that culture more accurately.

When casting the role of Carlita, though, Macri says the first choice was always actress and model Lux Pascal, the L.A.-based sister of Hollywood star Pedro Pascal. Lux, who had recently transitioned, took the part as her first leading role, a decision........

© Buenos Aires Herald