Living in abandoned New York City garbage trucks, a small group of Hispanic transvestites have built a functional homestead. Self-described outsiders, they are ostracized by both straight and gay culture, not to mention their immediate familia, the Puerto Rican and Cuban communities. These are the inhabitants of Susana Aiken and Carlos Aparicio's intimately scaled portrait The Salt Mines (45 mins). The most charismatic of the queens is Ricardo, a.k.a. Sara, a savvy hormone-junkie who serves as the de facto mayor of the "mines." Diagnosed as HIV positive, Ricardo is soon exhausted by the streets. His way out comes in the form of Tim, a Christian evangelist who specializes in rescuing transvestites. The Transformation (52 mins) follows Ricardo to Dallas where he is turned from a life dedicated to cross-dressing to one dedicated to the cross. As with all "miracles," everything falls neatly into place: the nicely appointed apartment, the dedicated wife. The intriguing Transformation turns upon the mystery of its subject. Is Ricardo truly converted? Can gender preference be so simply effaced? The secret lies in transvestism which is, after all, an art of appearance.-Steve Seid