Cannes: Leyna Bloom Makes History as First Transgender Lead Actress of Color at Festival
Leyna Bloom is about to shatter an important glass ceiling.
On Saturday, she will become the first transgender woman of color to star in a movie that premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. In “Port Authority,” directed by Danielle Lessovitz, Bloom plays a trans woman from New York’s kiki ballroom scene who falls in love with a lost drifter (Fionn Whitehead).
“This is the moment that I’ve dreamed about,” says Bloom, a first-time actress and model who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “This moment is a door that has been opened for a lot of people to sit at the table. How do you see something like this? It’s never happened. I just want to take it all in and know that there’s still work to be done.”
In its 72-year-history, the Cannes Film Festival has been a prestigious — but stodgy — club that has elevated mostly male story tellers.
On Saturday, she will become the first transgender woman of color to star in a movie that premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. In “Port Authority,” directed by Danielle Lessovitz, Bloom plays a trans woman from New York’s kiki ballroom scene who falls in love with a lost drifter (Fionn Whitehead).
“This is the moment that I’ve dreamed about,” says Bloom, a first-time actress and model who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “This moment is a door that has been opened for a lot of people to sit at the table. How do you see something like this? It’s never happened. I just want to take it all in and know that there’s still work to be done.”
In its 72-year-history, the Cannes Film Festival has been a prestigious — but stodgy — club that has elevated mostly male story tellers.
- 5/16/2019
- by Ramin Setoodeh
- Variety - Film News
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