Disclosure

The documentary works through a century of trans representation in Hollywood: the disguise jokes of silent comedy, the psychopath killer template, the illness stories, the exposure segments of talk shows. Everyone speaking is trans, and Laverne Cox, Lilly Wachowski, Jen Richards and others describe both the scenes they watched and what those scenes did in their own lives. Sam Feder's film does not compile a list of images but shows what repeated templates teach an audience. Its sharpest section is the argument that visibility by itself provides no safety. Some of the speakers also criticise productions they appeared in, which makes the film more honest. It went out on Netflix. Who it is for: anyone curious about film history and the argument over representation. Who it is not for: viewers troubled by the degrading language in the archive clips shown.