The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, a cinderella story with a ladyboy, a film directed by Olaf de Fleur Johannesson has won the prestigious Teddy awards for Best Feature Film in the Berlin Film Festival on February 2008. It stars Raquela Rios, a transsexual in the Philippines. The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, a cinderella story with a ladyboy, is about the life story of ladyboy Raquela Rios. Incidentally, previous Teddy Awards winners are Pedro Almodovar, Gus Van Sant and Lukas Moodyson.

In an interview, ladyboy Raquela Rios was asked,

How is it to be a transsexual? Can you explain for those who don’t know the term? Raquela Rios: “Tough, challenging and totally a survivor in this cruel world we live in….in case you dont know what is transsexual……transsexual is a transgender, a male to female transgender whether its a transvestite a pre-opt transsexual or a post opt transsexual ……transsexual is commonly termed to us asians transgender according to the sex tourist who visit Asia cause it’s not commonly used in the western part where they call them “shemales“.”

How is it to be a transsexual in the Philippines, tell us about your life? Raquela Rios: “Well it’s not really fun although i have my friends and we enjoy together we get along with each other with some fellow transsexuals. We blend in the gay society that sometimes people in the Philippines label us as gays were in fact homosexuality is different from transsexuality and filipino people has got to know that…..We as a transsexual myself in the Philippines sometimes i get conscious walking around when we see some male species and hmmm anyone cause they will stare at us and mock on us make us as a laughing stock……..its not an easy life we got here but well we just go with the flow we strive hard to be accepted and be different as we are prove ourselves that we are brave, the only one.”