Films to Watch for Transgender Awareness Week 2025
Ballroom directed by Amandine Gay
Ballroom follows the daily lives of young adults from the french chapter of the House of Revlon—hybrid heroes teetering between the margins of society and the glitz of stardom.
Born to Be directed by Tania Cypriano
Born to Be follows the work of Dr. Jess Ting (he/him) at the groundbreaking Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery. There, for the first time ever in New York City, transgender and gender non-binary people have access to quality gender-affirming care. With extraordinary access, this remarkable documentary offers an intimate look at how one doctor’s work impacts the lives of his patients as well as how his journey from renowned plastic surgeon to pioneering gender-affirming specialist has led to his own transformation.
Break the Game directed by Jane M Wagner
Video games and the community around them have meant everything to Narcissa Wright. Her quests to set speed run records in numerous game titles have allowed her to own competitions and stages across the globe. But as much as she loves the challenge of conquering virtual worlds, her biggest challenge will come from the community whose love and affection she yearns for as she comes out as transgender. Hell-bent on setting a new speedrunning world record in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Narcissa struggles to balance the volatile nature of internet fandom and the prospect of building a fulfilling life outside the confines of pixels and sprites.
Desire Lines directed by Jules Rosskam
An underground narrative has long been whispered among transgender men: after coming out as trans, many of us develop an attraction for other men. In this hybrid documentary, history comes alive when an Iranian-American trans man time-travels on a dizzying quest to unravel his own sexual desires. As Ahmad approaches age 60, his long-suppressed desires for other men become impossible to ignore.
Enigma directed by Zackary Drucker
Two legends contested their identities as women in the court of public opinion: April Ashley, who was immortalized as a trailblazer by embracing her transgender history; and Amanda Lear, who has consciously denied and obfuscated her past for decades. Their divergent paths reveal disparate but intertwined legacies.
Framing Agnes directed by Chase Joynt
The pseudonymous Agnes was a pioneering transgender woman who participated in an infamous gender health study conducted at UCLA in the 1960s. Her clever use of the study to gain access to gender-affirming healthcare led to her status as a fascinating and celebrated figure in trans history.
Gossamer Folds directed by Dash Donato
Gossamer Folds is a story about finding family and acceptance where you least expect it. Set in 1986, ten-year-old Tate is uprooted and unwittingly moved to the suburbs of Kansas City. As his parents’ marriage unravels, Tate finds solace in the unlikely friendships of his next-door neighbors: a retired college professor and his transgender daughter, Gossamer.
Heightened Scrutiny directed by Sam Feder
Heightened Scrutiny follows Chase Strangio, ACLU attorney and the first out trans person to argue before the Supreme Court, as he fights a high-stakes legal battle to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth (United States v. Skrmetti). The film exposes the dangerous role of mainstream media in fueling anti-trans legislation, uncovering how biased coverage drives hate, endangers lives, and threatens democracy itself. With insights from journalists like Jelani Cobb, Lydia Polgreen, and Gina Chua, and activists like Laverne Cox, the story dismantles anti-trans disinformation and highlights its devastating real-world impact. As SCOTUS prepares to rule on the case, Heightened Scrutiny reveals the fight for bodily autonomy as a fight for the soul of democracy, offering a powerful call to action against bigotry and injustice.
Hummingbirds directed by Silvia Del Carmen Castaños
In Hummingbirds, directors Silvia Del Carmen Castaños and Estefanía “Beba” Contreras tell their own coming-of-age story, transforming their hometown on the Texas-Mexico border into a wonderland of creative expression and activist hijinx. Filmed collaboratively over the final summer of their fleeting youth, their cinematic self-portrait celebrates the power of friendship and joy as tools of survival and resistance. Grand Prize, 2023 Berlinale Generation.
I Saw the TV Glow directed by Jane Schoenbrun
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.
Julia Scotti: Funny That Way directed by Susan Sandler
With breathtaking emotional honesty, this tender, funny, and powerful portrait of transgender comedian Julia Scotti explores the unrelenting courage and humor it takes to be Julia. In the comedy boom of the 1980’s Rick Scotti was a busy guy-appearing in clubs across the country, on bills with Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld, when he came to the dawning realization that nothing felt right. At a time when the words gender dysphoria and gender reassignment surgery were rarely heard, Rick’s true awakening at age forty-seven led to a new identity as Julia Scotti.
Kokomo City directed by D Smith
Directed by two-time Grammy nominee D. Smith, Kokomo City takes up a seemingly simple mantle — to present the stories of four Black transgender sex workers in New York and Georgia. Shot in striking black and white, the boldness of the facts of these women’s lives and the earthquaking frankness they share complicate this enterprise, colliding the everyday with cutting social commentary and the excavation of long-dormant truths. Accessible for any audience, unfiltered, unabashed, and unapologetic, Smith and her subjects smash the trendy standard for authenticity, offering a refreshing rawness and vulnerability unconcerned with purity and politeness.
Leitis in Waiting directed by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
Leitis in Waiting is the story of Joey Mataele and the Tonga leitis, an intrepid group of native transgender women fighting a rising tide of religious fundamentalism and intolerance in their South Pacific Kingdom. The film follows Joey, a devout Catholic of noble descent, as she organizes an exuberant beauty pageant presided over by a princess, provides shelter and training for a young contestant rejected by her family, and spars with American-financed evangelicals threatening to resurrect colonial-era laws that would criminalize the leitis’ lives. With unexpected humor and extraordinary access to the Kingdom’s royals and religious leaders, Joey’s emotional journey reveals what it means to be different in a society ruled by tradition, and what it takes to be accepted without forsaking who you are.
Lingua Franca directed by Isabel Sandoval
Lingua Franca follows an undocumented Filipina trans woman Olivia after she has secured a job as a live-in caregiver for Olga, an elderly Russian woman in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood. Olivia’s main priority is to secure a green card to stay in America. But when she unexpectedly becomes romantically involved with Olga’s adult grandson Alex, issues around identity, civil rights and immigration threaten her very existence.
Little Miss Westie directed by Joy Reed
A loving and insightful portrait of two transgender siblings — Luca and Ren — and their parents, set in the changing social climate following the 2016 presidential election. Little Miss Westie takes audiences behind the scenes as the family navigates puberty, school, dating and more as the children begin living in their authentic genders and Ren participates in the Lil’ Miss Westie Pageant.
Mama Gloria directed by Luchina Fisher
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.
No Ordinary Man directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and Chase Joynt
For decades, the life of American Jazz musician Billy Tipton was framed as the story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career. In No Ordinary Man, Tipton’s story is re-imagined and performed by trans artists as they collectively paint a portrait of an unlikely hero. Together, the filmmakers join Tipton’s son Billy Jr. to reckon with a complicated and contested legacy: how do you tell the story of someone who was hiding in plain sight yet desperate to be seen?
Our Dad, Danielle directed by S.E. King
Danielle and Becky met and fell in love in the 80s. A wildly successful lawyer and social butterfly wife, they were best friends from the moment they met. To the outside world, they had it all figured out, but Danielle was hiding a secret behind a beard, a big personality, and fancy suits. In 2017 Danielle Joy “DJ” Healey is finally ready to come out as a trans woman. How would this transition affect her 30-year marriage to Becky, their two daughters, and her prestigious law career in Texas? As the political landscape evolves and Danielle’s world expands, she integrates into the LGBTQ+ community, using her legal prowess to help fight for the rights of her trans and queer brothers, sisters & siblings. Our Dad, Danielle celebrates the complicated journey on the way to finally accepting who you truly are.
Paris is Burning directed by Jennie Livingston
This Sundance prize-winning documentary is an intimate portrait of 1980s Harlem drag balls: a world of fierce competition, sustenance, and survival.
Playland directed by Georden West
Playland conjures a time-bending night in Boston’s oldest and most notorious gay bar. Featuring an eclectic ensemble of queer performers, including drag icon Lady Bunny and Pose‘s Danielle Cooper, the transdisciplinary film sees music, dance, archival footage, tableaux, opera, and performance art layered into an ethereal piece subverting all boundaries. The work of queer fantasy and history takes place inside the empty husk of the Playland Café. Although the cafe shut down in the late ’90s, West stages one last bawdy night on the town for the ghosts of their LGBTQ+ ancestors.
Proper Pronouns directed by Megan Daniels
There are 30 transgender, ordained ministers in the United States; six are in North Carolina. Dawn Flynn, Mykal Shannon, Liam Hooper, and Debra Hopkins are battling narrow-mindedness within the religious community, their families, and NC natives. In order to live their authentic selves, some have thrown their loved ones into personal identity crises. They are bravely preaching from a pulpit despite the danger they face not only as a transgender person living in the South but also as transgender ministers navigating their way through local, state, and national governing bodies who decide what it means to be a human being.
Seahorse directed by Jeanie Finlay
Freddy is thirty and yearns to start a family, but for him this ordinary desire comes with unique challenges: he is a gay transgender man. Deciding to carry his own baby took years of soul searching, but nothing could prepare him for the reality of pregnancy, as both a physical experience and one that challenges society’s fundamental understanding of gender, parenthood, and family. Freddy quickly realizes that what to him feels pragmatic, to others feels deeply confusing; this was not part of his plan. Against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward trans people, Freddy is forced to confront his own naivete, mine unknown depths of courage, and lean on every friend and family member who will stand by him.
See You Then directed by Mari Walker
Kris is a trans woman from Phoenix, Arizona. A decade after abruptly breaking up with Naomi, the duo is reuniting for a single evening in Los Angeles. Kris is in town for a network security conference. She is taking care of her cousin’s two children. Naomi, a professor, is a mother of two. Kris and Naomi talk about Kris’s transition and their friendship.
So Pretty directed by Jessica Dunn Rovinelli
A transgender visual artist, Tonia, comes to New York City in 2018, where she meets her American boyfriend, the academic Franz, and works on an new exhibition of a work built around the legacy of German author Ronald M. Schernikau. Tonia and Franz talk politics, art, and love, go dancing, drink coffee, fuck, protest, and organize alongside their friends, the couple Paul and Erika, a trans woman and musician, and Helmut, a transmaculine political radical. When Paul becomes injured by the police following a political action, their social space is momentarily shattered. At the same time, the audience comes to realize that their lives and the film are morphing into a version of Schernikau’s novella so schön, a communist-themed depiction of four lovers in 1980s Berlin, read aloud by the characters throughout the film in voice-over and at the art installation. The film is overlaid with a mosaic of music from Rachika S, who also plays Erika, and a host of female electronic musicians.
Summer Solstice directed by Noah Schamus
Trans man Leo’s life is a jumble of auditions, acting classes, barista jobs, and situationships, all of which he hopes will amount to more. Unexpectedly, Leo’s college best friend, cisgender and straight Eleanor, calls Leo announcing that she’ll be driving through NYC, and offers to pick him up for an impromptu trip upstate. They embark on the weekend getaway, marking their first time spent together since Leo began transitioning. Reunited with new gender dynamics between them, and uncovering problems lurking behind Eleanor’s “well-meaning” façade, Leo and Eleanor navigate how their old feelings towards one another exist within this new context, forcing them both to confront buried secrets and emotions.
Tales of the Waria directed by Kathy Huang
Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population. It is also home to a community of transgender individuals known as warias, biological men who live openly as women. Tales of the Waria follows four characters from this little-known community as they search for romance and companionship. At times comical and at times heartbreaking, the film uncovers a world that not only defies our expectations of gender and Islam, but also reveals our endless capacity as human beings to search for love — whatever the consequences.
The People’s Joker directed by Vera Drew
This revolutionary DIY parody film and hilarious reimagining of the classic autobiographical coming-of-age story follows an unconfident, closeted trans girl as she moves to Gotham City to make it big as a comedian by joining the cast of UCB Live – a government-sanctioned late night sketch show in a world where comedy has been outlawed. As mainstream success eludes our heroine, leading her to unite with a ragtag team of rejects, misfits, and a certain love interest named Mister J, “Joker the Harlequin” is born again as a confident (and psychotic) joker on a collision course with the city’s fascist caped crusader.
The Whistle directed by StormMiguel Florez
The history of New York’s Meatpacking District told from the point of view of transgender sex workers who lived and worked there. They recount the violence, policing, and gentrification that lead to a movement for transgender rights.
Transfinite directed by Neelu Bhuman
A 45 year old Xicane trans man returns to his hometown, Albuquerque, New Mexico in search of the origin of a secret code he learned when he identified as a young dyke in the 1980s.
Transition directed by Jordan Bryon & Monica Villamizar
Trans In America is a verité short documentary series, and an intimate portrait of three transgender individuals as they battle for their civil rights in the United States. The three films reveal the daily impact of discrimination on three families as they battle with bathroom bills, vulnerability in employment and housing, and the aftermath of incarceration, in Texas, Illinois and Georgia. The series had its world premiere on Conde Nast’s LGBTQ+ platform them. on October 10 2018. The films are directed by LGBTQ+ filmmakers, produced by an inclusive and majority-LGBTQ+ production team, and informed by a panel of transgender Advisors.
TransMilitary directed by Fiona Dawson
Around 15, 500 transgender people serve in the U. S. military (notably the largest transgender employer in the U. S. ), where they must conceal their gender identity because military policies ban their service. TransMilitary chronicles the lives of four individuals (Senior Airman Logan Ireland, Corporal Laila Villanueva, Captain Jennifer Peace & First Lieutenant El Cook) defending their country’s freedom while fighting for their own. They put their careers and their families’ livelihoods on the line by coming out as transgender to top brass officials in the Pentagon in hopes of attaining the equal right to serve.
Urya: The Rising Forest directed by Juliana Curi
Uýra, a trans Indigenous artist, travels through the Amazon on a journey of self-discovery using performance art to teach Indigenous youth that they are the guardians of ancestral messages of the Amazon Forest. In a country that kills the highest number of trans, Indigenous, and environmentalist youth worldwide, Uýra leads a rising movement while fostering unity and providing inspiration for the LGBTQIA+ and environmental movements in the heart of the Amazon Forest.