Transamerica

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Duncan Tucker directs. Stephen Kazmierski behind the camera. David Mansfield scores. Pam Wise cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Grossed $13M — a 13.4× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
• 3Released 21 years ago.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.
• 5Directed by Duncan Tucker, shot by Stephen Kazmierski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by David Mansfield. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Pam Wise shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Felicity Huffman and Kevin Zegers and Fionnula Flanagan carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Life is a journey. Bring an open mind.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0407265 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 29 themes, including "new york city", "individual", "sexual abuse", "waitress".
• 12Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Stephen Kazmierski

Original score

David Mansfield

Editing

Pam Wise

Production design

Mark White

Costume design

Danny Glicker

Makeup / hair

Heidi Kulow

Sound

Tony Volante

Stunt coordinator

Manny Siverio

Runtime

103 min · 1h 43m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,000,000

Box office

$13,350,369

Return

1335% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Transamerica (2005) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

77% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

66/100

IMDB rating

7.3/10 · 42,992 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Duncan Tucker

• 
  The Mountain King

  2000 · ★ 5.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Transamerica

  Clip
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  ▶
  Transamerica Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• kinrich302026-09-08
  ★ 8/10

  This is an interesting story about a M to F trans woman about to undergo bottom surgery when she learns that she fathered a son years ago in a one night stand and now the son is in trouble, but the problem is that the boy doesn't know she's his father.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Belladonna Productions

  US

Key crew

• Set DecorationLisa Scoppa
• ProducerRene Bastian
• EditorPam Wise
• Line ProducerLucy Cooper
• Costume DesignDanny Glicker
• ProducerLinda Moran
• Executive ProducerWilliam H. Macy
• Production ManagerElinyisia Mosha
• CastingEve Battaglia
• Production DesignMark White
• Production ManagerKaren O'Toole
• Second Second Assistant DirectorJustin Ritson
• First Assistant DirectorUrs Hirschbiegel
• Set DresserKat Donahue
• Sound MixerDavid Diamond
• Art DirectionJeff Everett
• Boom OperatorGabriel Sanders
• Sound RecordistDave Corcoran
• Scenic ArtistEmily Gaunt
• Second Assistant DirectorLauren Guilmartin
• Property MasterDuke Scoppa
• Assistant Sound EditorKatherine Gordon Miller
• Makeup Department HeadHeidi Kulow
• LeadmanNeil Driscoll Jr.

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• new york city
• individual
• sexual abuse
• waitress
• parent child relationship
• therapist
• runaway
• new mexico
• drug addiction
• hustler
• cocaine
• motel
• new identity
• arkansas
• road trip
• los angeles, california
• teenage prostitute
• porn industry
• lgbt
• stolen cars
• hitchhiking
• road movie
• trans woman
• father son relationship
• gender affirmation surgery
• transgender
• intimate
• dubious
• hopeful

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2005-04-24R· Tribeca Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2005-12-23
• Theatrical (limited)2005-06-26· San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2005-10-25· Milwaukee International Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2005-10-09· Mill Valley Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2005-10-10· Chicago International Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2005-10-20· Austin Film Festival
• Theatrical2005-12-02
• Theatrical2006-03-03R

Also known as

International titles

• 窈窕老爸TW
• TransaméricaAR
• TransaméricaBR
• ТрансамерикаBG
• TransamerikaHR
• TransamerikaCZ
• Trans AmericaIL
• TransamericaIT
• トランスアメリカJP
• TransamerikaLT
• ТрансамерикаRU
• ТрансамерикаUA
• Giới TínhVN
• Transamérica, Un Íntimo SecretoMX