2006, Guatemala
Documentary, Drama
Along a railroad track in Guatemala, life is harsh. The locals live in squalor, work is hard to find and the prostitutes earn $2 per job. First-time director Chema RodrÃguez examines lives of desperation in The Railroad All-Stars, a documentary about respect and the downtrodden.
These women have fallen into their professions for lack of alternatives and have received much physical abuse in the process. When a local soccer tournament opens for teams, the La Línea prostitutes decide that their participation will provide the attention they need to earn respect and protection. And with that, the Railroad All-Stars are born.
Though some of these women have moved a great distance from their home towns, they have not managed to break away from lives of mistreatment. Most were raped and abused within their own families as children, and many subsequently became involved with men who then raped or abused their own children. Some have tried to escape life as a victim by attending school, but money is always a factor. These women feel independent because they are free of pimps, but they still must bribe police with both money and sexual favors.
Though their rates are shockingly cheap, the women often act as the breadwinners for their families. Their children and significant others would prefer they had a different source of income, but they recognize that there are few monetarily better alternatives. In surprising illustration, a husband and son play soccer on the tracks, mere feet from where their wife and mother accepts a john at their doorstep.
These are warm, funny women who have sought a better place in life but have been unable to attain it. They are intelligent, not ignorant, and do their best to inform the community of their hardships and abuse. As the tournament begins, many teams refuse to play them, often because they think the women will transmit AIDS through sweat (the women's medical conditions are never revealed). Eloquent spokesperson and team captain Valeria speaks patiently but passionately to the public, and stresses that unlike others in the city, their work does not harm anyone (again, disease is never discussed).
In an ironic twist, one of their opponents is a team of policewomen. The cops appreciate the attention of the game because they believe both groups are misunderstood by society, and they desire a chance to speak. Another team is composed of nightclub dancers jumping on the hookers' bandwagon.
In an attempt to give the team a greater scope of what is available in their country, they are sponsored by a Guatemalan travel agency. Treated to a comfortable bus and nice hotel rooms, they visit parts of the country of which they have only dreamt, such as lovely tourist lake towns and the Mayan city of Tikal. It would be nice to think these memories may serve as motivation for finding better opportunities elsewhere.
As they attempt to free themselves from bad relationships, they have one sunny source of inspiration. Marina is a retired, one-eyed (removed by a incensed lover) prostitute who now sells condoms to the women as she serenades them with her beautiful voice. All she ever wanted was a "fat-lipped Indian," and that is what she has gotten. As he rebuilds a house that was destroyed by Hurricane Mitch, she cries and sings and appreciates her newfound happiness. We can only hope such a fate awaits each of these deserving women.