Australian filmmaker Chris Nichols was riding a passenger ferry deep into the Amazon when he was awoken by the sound of singing and laughter from the boat's top deck. That was where he met the charming Priscilla, Queen of the Amazon.
The trip on the Fred William I to Manaus, the Amazon capital, took three days.
“The boat had a sleeping area, a giant deck full of hammocks. There were probably 400 people so when you sleep you are touching four people at the same time,” Australian filmmaker Chris Nichols says.
“I was traveling with a Brazilian friend and journalist Raquel Pryzant. We were interviewing people that call the Amazon their home. We accumulated some very interesting stories from this part of the world, which so many people are focused on at the moment since the new Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was elected.” 
That morning, the pair were half asleep, having breakfast on the boat and discussing ideas for new videos, when they heard sounds of shouting and laughter.
"There were probably 400 people; when you sleep you are touching four people at the same time,” Chris said. Source: Chris Nicholls
“That's when we saw Priscilla dancing and singing on the top deck of the boat," says Nichols. "We invited her to tell her story and she agreed right there and then. We spent the first two days getting to know her and the last day filming.”
Nichols told Priscilla about the other Priscilla, Queen of the Desert from the iconic Australian film.
“But she didn’t know about the film or the story. A friend of hers from São Paulo gave her the name Priscilla and it stuck,” he says.
The short documentary explores Priscilla's life in the Amazon region through her own words. As the Amazon is a very rural, sometimes wild zone of Brazil, life can be hard for Priscilla when she faces discrimination, but as an award-winning samba dancer, it's also full of joy and reverie.
Priscilla Mollinary Source: Supplied
In Nichols' film Priscilla lists the many titles she has collected in some of the biggest street parties and samba competitions in Brazil. From Queen of the Carnaval to Queen of Gay Folk and Queen of Gaymada. Just last week she was crowned the Gay Queen of MotoCross 2019.
Among her greatest achievements in these competitions is twice being crowned the Gay Queen of Parintins Festival - a popular annual celebration held in the city of the same name in the State of Amazonas where Priscilla was born. As Parintins is one of the largest festivals in Brazil, only Carnaval festivities in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador draw more participants. It is recognised as a Cultural Heritage of Brazil by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage.
The 21-year-old Priscilla is also studying business alongside her dancing career. She says she loves winning competitions but that things are not always black and white for the queen due to her transgender status.
"Sometimes it helps, sometimes it is harmful... I was at a party in Boa Vista and they were having a gay competition, one that I was going to participate in. I arrived there and saw a rowdy bunch of guys watching. There were a few gays dancing and this group of guys threatened to throw beer cans at them. It was really wrong, you know."
Priscilla says having had a positive and accepting upbringing has helped her greatly in living a joyful life, as her parents encouraged her dancing passion from a young age and still regularly attend competitions to support her.
Priscilla Mollinary, 21, is the two-time Queen of the Parintins Carnival Source: Facebook
"As a child, I was practically already born a woman," she says. "My parents always said that is was not an influence of my upbringing - it was a gift in itself."
"My parents are amazing. Where we hold the competitions, they are there. Sometimes they go from midnight to five in the morning and there they are cheering for me... My parents were always supportive and embraced the LGBT life within their family.
"I've never suffered, thank god. I don't need or want that."
The purpose of telling Priscilla’s story, Nichols says, is to show the world the richness and diversity of the Amazon, and how its natural resources and people should be protected.
Priscilla Mollinary: “I am a queen and will always be a queen” Source: Facebook
“We wanted to share the story, a story that ranges from her passion of dancing to the support she has received from her family,” says Chris.
Hailing from Melbourne, Nichols spent nearly a year in Brazil, working and traveling around the country, as he is fluent in Portuguese and started listening to Brazilian music when he was 15-years-old.
This fascination with Brazil's culture has encouraged him to return to the country several times.
“I had a Brazilian boyfriend and lived with Brazilians who only spoke to me in Portuguese. Also, I spoke Spanish earlier, which helped [in learning Portuguese].”
As for Priscilla, while her studies continue she says she remains dedicated to living her best life: "I am a queen and I will always be a queen."
Source: Supplied
