Meet Mama Gloria. Chicago’s Black transgender icon Gloria Allen, now in her 70s, blazed a trail for trans people like few others before her. Emerging from Chicago’s South Side drag ball culture in the 1960s, Gloria overcame traumatic violence to become a proud leader in her community. Most famously, she pioneered a charm school for young transgender people that served as inspiration for the hit play Charm. Luchina Fisher’s empathic and engaging documentary is not only a portrait of a groundbreaking legend but also a celebration of unconditional love, the love Gloria received from her own mother and that she now gives to her chosen children. And it is driven by the love that Luchina has for her teenage transgender daughter, Gia.

Mama Gloria is a co-production of Little Light Productions and Black Public Media with major funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Field Foundation of Illinois and WORLD. It has received additional support from Sisters in Cinema, SouthPaw Video Productions, the 2020 Athena Film Festival’s Works in Progress Program and Women Make Movies Production Assistance Program.