"Disclosure": Groundbreaking Documentary Examines a Century of Trans Representation in Film & TV

As South Dakota becomes the latest state to pass anti-transgender legislation in the state's lower house, we look at how trans people have been depicted in film and television over the last century. The film "Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen," which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, traces trans representation from the 1914 silent film "A Florida Enchantment" to the Oscar-winning 1999 film "Boys Don't Cry" to the new hit television series "Pose." Through in-depth interviews with transgender actors, activists and writers, the documentary reveals the way Hollywood and the media both manufacture and reflect widespread misunderstandings and prejudices against transgender people. The film also champions the transgender people in film and television who have fought and continue to fight tirelessly for accurate and dignified representation on screen. We speak with the film's director, Sam Feder, as well as actress Jen Richards, Emmy Award-winning director Yance Ford and ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio - all of whom are featured in "Disclosure."