Southern Comfort (2003)

Kate Davis' award-winning documentary follows the final year in the life of 52-year-old Robert Eads, who was born as Barbara, gave birth to two sons, and then decided to become a man. As Davis unobtrusively follows the terminally ill Eads and his ''chosen family'' of fellow Georgia transsexuals -- including his girlfriend, a male-to-female transsexual -- she convincingly demonstrates that gender is more mental than physical. But instead of functioning as a voyeuristic indulgence or degenerating into a morass of pity, the film soars. It captures the resilience of human spirits, once imprisoned by their bodies, who have discovered how to live free.