Have ya'll seen this? Will Ferrell's best friend (and coworker) decided to transition, and when she told him, he suggested they film a road trip documentary together. It's called Will & Harper, our Sept. 27
Found this in the comment section of @strange-aeons's video about queer symbols:
via YouTube
The non-binary lesbian in question is Sam Hultin and the project is known as the Eva-Lisa's Monument. Eva-Lisa's works and life stories are archived at the Queerrörelsens arkiv och bibliotek in Gothenburg, Sweden.
You should take the time to take a read the wiki because it's wild where the transphobia she faced came from:
Here is one of the photos the commentator from the screenshots is referencing:
via Wikimedia Commons, taken by Sam Hultin in 2017.
There is a 35-minutes documentary "Dear Eva-Lisa" commissioned by Mint in 2020, and English subtitles are available. The video is unlisted, so you will not be able to find it in search.
If you want a copy of Eva-Lisa's biography, "Eva-Lisas monument" (2025) is available from the Swedish publisher Brombergs.
we have always been here: documentaries about trans people
documentaries about trans people, starting in the year 1953. I don't speak to filmic quality or whether or not something is problematic, what matters here is simply the testimony and the stamp of existence (including in those where the subject matter is spoken about, rather than getting to speak for themselves)
(I haven't seen every one of these yet, so some of them have slightly shorter texts to go along with them)
while (as you'll see) most of these are US-based movies, they are from all over the world. I'd be curious about whether there are any focused specifically on the intersection of transness and disability, I don't personally know of any, although of many speak to issues with access to healthcare (for example southern comfort)
all the ones that have links connected to them are watchable for free
some of these can be watched for free on the archive, youtube, vimeo, many could do with a few coins thrown their way: many of the movies, for example the the aggressives can be rented on vimeo, transgender tuesdays is free on youtube but accepting donations for trans women of colour, lotus sports club is doing festivals currently and is accepting donations to support the team and the vulnerable trans (now men) who have had to leave it to find work, call her ganda is accepting donations to support the family's legal costs in bringing justice for their daughter
remember, finding the stories that have been graciously shared is one thing, supporting our community is the next step
glen or glenda (1953): the first known movie about trans people, a mixed-media semi-fictional account (US)
the queen (1968) (US): following drag-queens at a national beauty pageant two years before stonewall, including footage of crystal labeija (US)
change of sex (1979-1999): a five-part series following trans woman julia grant as she tries to access gender affirming care via the gender identity clinic (UK - available on BBC iplayer)
paris is burning (1990): documenting queer people in the ballroom scene, community, competition, and challenges (US)
shinjuku boys (1995): following five young men who work at onabe bars, which cater to women, as they try to make ends meet (Japan)
transexual menace (1996): snapshots of the melting pot of trans life in new york, from famous faces, to protest, including several immigrants to america from columbia, west africa, japan, hawaii, and germany (Germany/US)
you don't know dick: courageous hearts of transsexual men (1997): about several trans men in different walks of life, who chat about their experiences, politics, and history (US)
the brandon teena story (1998): a documentation about the murder of brandon teena, using testimonies from the people involved (US)
southern comfort (2001): follows robert eads in the final year of his life, before he died of initially treatable ovarian cancer (US)
superstar in a housedress: the life and legend of jackie curtis (2004): a portrait of jackie curtis, one of the earliest punk pioneers, by (mainly cis) people who knew her (US)
screaming queens: the riot at compton’s cafeteria (2005): a rare documentary of the time featuring the voices of trans activists, about the pre-stonewall compton's cafeteria riot (US)
beautiful darling (2005): a portrait of candy darling (one of the trans woman superstars of the 60s) from the perspective of the (mainly cis) people who knew her (US)
the aggressives (2005): centered on black studs, mascs, and trans men, and more, exploring the term "aggressives," race and gender, filmed over five years (US)
Jayne County: man enough to be a woman (2005): a performance by veteran punk musician Jayne County and her band (UK/US) (excerpt)
beautiful daughters (2006): following a group of trans women who performed the vagina monologues in 2005 (US)
still black: a portrait of black transmen (2008): a series of interviews following black trans men speaking about their lives, careers, race, and gender (US)
the advocate for fagdom (2011): a series of political testimonies by queer activists, including the punk musician vaginal davis (US)
she said boom: the story of fifth column (2012): a documentary about seminal 1980s queercore punkband fifth column (Canada)
TRANS (2012): following a series of trans people at varying places in their transition, and the people around them (US)
hide & seek (2013): a group of trans people in pakistan speak about their experiences with the language they have access to (Pakistan)
before the last curtain falls (2014): transexuals and drag queens in their 60s-70s touring a show called "gardenias" (Germany)
mala mala (2014): following a number of trans people in puerto rico from all walks of life (Puerto Rico)
queercore: how to punk a revolution (2017): a primer to the history of queercore with interviews of some of the people who created the scene (US)
laerte-se (2017): a portrait of the underrated visual artist laerte (Brazil)
a year in transition (2018): 20 year old arab-american trans man documents one year of going on hormones (US)
call her ganda (2018): the story about the murder of a trans filipino woman named ganda by a us marine and the repercussions (Philippines)
indianara (2019): indianara is an activist fighting for trans survival and rights in brazil (Brazil)
disclosure (2020): going through a history of trans representation in the media (US)
transgender tuesdays (2020): featuring trans people talking about a groundbreaking gender-affirming clinic that opened in the 90s in the san franciscan tenderloin district (US)
prayers for sweet waters (2021): three trans sex-workers who live in cape town discuss their experience during covid (South Africa)
the end of wonderland (2021): follows erotic photographer tara emory as she goes through changes in her life (US)
travesía travesti (2021): the last performance of a cabaret during the chilean revolt of 2019 (Chile)
casa susanna (2022): documentary about the 50s summer retreat for male crossdressers and trans women (US)
la vida es un carnaval (2022): in a rural town, a group of trans women plan the first gay pride during its annual carnival and a bunch of scar tissue comes up (Mexico)
this is not me (2022): two young transmen in iran with supportive families share their daily lives (Iran)
lotus sports club (2022): a football club in cambodia run by trans man pa vann and a safe space for trans boys and lesbians (Cambodia)
nel mio nome (2022): four italian transmen share their thoughts, experiences, and identities (Italy)
the dads (2023): a group of dads of trans kids meet with the father of matthew shepard for a fishing trip (US)
kokomo city (2023): intra-community, celebratory documentary centering black trans sex-workers in america (US)
Focused on search for a trans woman rumored to have walked from Gaza to Tel Aviv, Yolande Zauberman's 'The Belle From Gaza' highlights those she calls 'warriors of their own destiny'
