r 42 . JUStpUt l >£Ç£MB£R wk film The Road Less Traveled Gay filmmaker celebrates life in Transamerica by Stephen Blair in danger. efore landing a Best ically Actress Emmy for her through work grapevining 1 started meeting B on Desperate Housewives, networking Slowly and some really brave women who Felicity shared their stories with me. Huffman made a little There were certainly some indie movie called Transamerica. She stars as Bree, a transsexual who were more politicized woman who discovers that she and suspicious, but I think in once fathered a son. Days before the end all of them came to her final sexual reassignment sur­ respect the project. Before we gery, she drives the queer teen cross-country, neglecting to tell shot Duncan Tucker him that she’s his father and that she’s a transsexual. Huffman's poignant, Oscar-caliber performance is I actually had Riki Wilchins, the executive direc­ tor of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, read the script. It passed muster, I'm happy to say. the main attraction. But the film, which opens Dec. 23, also boasts terrific writing and cinematography and a killer supporting cast that includes Fionnula Flanagan as Bree’s suffocating mom and hottie Kevin Zegers as Bree’s wayward kid. The man behind this gender­ bending journey is gay writer and director Duncan Tucker. The New York City resident talked about his debut feature while bunking at a local hotel during the Portland Lesbian & (¡ay Film Festival. Stephen Blair: How did Transamerica coine about? Duncan Dicker: A woman 1 knew in Los Angeles told me while I was thinking of the idea for this movie that she was transgendered. Kevin Zegers and Felicity Huffman are generating Oscar buzz for Transamerica, which already has been nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards and two Golden Globes. She told me what was under her this movie is that although the main character happens SB: Are there any autobiographical aspects to the story? DT: There’s one character in the movie, only one, to be a transsexual woman, it’s not a movie about who is based on a real-life human being. And that’s transsexuality. It's a celebration of a life. It’s about fam­ Fionnula Flanagan’s character, who is my mother. My ily and connection. It’s about what it feels like to be mom has seen the movie, and she's so proud. She different and alone and the journey towards self­ says, "That's me!” skirt, and I had no idea. But the funny thing is, that isn't the genesis for the movie. What’s subversive about acceptance. It’s also a kind of coming-of-age movie. it was t