The future of trans representation in the film industry feels like it’s at a crossroads. Conservative voices at studios are censoring trans stories, and the future of what stories get greenlit this year is uncertain. The 2025 Sundance Film Festival stood in contrast to this harsh reality, boasting a diverse slate of trans stories from around the world. INTO sat down with several of the trans and nonbinary creators at the festival this year, not to chat about the state of the world, but to ask them to dream of a better Hollywood and what their message was to studios on how they can champion trans storytelling. Here are those creators, their films, and their message.
Zackary Drucker – Enigma
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Bringing some trans history to Sundance, Zackary Drucker’s Enigma took us back to the disco era for a story about two legendary trans women, Amanda Lear and April Ashley, and their contrasting experiences handling being outed as trans in the public eye. Enigma, which screened this year, fits well into Drucker’s powerful filmography dedicated to dynamic, often unsung trans trailblazers, like those in The Stroll, a past Sundance premiere, and The Lady And The Dale.
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“ I see a future wherein the means of platforming our stories are more available, more accessible, more democratic,” said Drucker, pointing to platforms like YouTube, which are shaking up the streaming space and do not have a paywall. She left us with a hopeful message: “ It’s been an inspiring time of people coming together to support each other, and even in the most dire circumstances, that’s the silver lining of humanity.”
Roberto Fatal – En Memoria
A Sundance Film Institute Native Lab Fellow, Roberto Fatal is no stranger to Sundance, but En Memoria is the first film they directed that was an official selection at the festival. Their new short film tells a gripping dystopian future story where a mother has her memories taken due to being unable to pay her college debt and its ripple effect on her and her daughter.
“ If I had a dream for Hollywood in the future, it would not be so much about what kind of films they would show, it would be about the structure of Hollywood itself,” Roberto shared, explaining that the lack of complex trans stories stems from a systemic issue with the current studio system. “ My vision for Hollywood would be that multinational conglomerate corporations would disband [so] independent studio systems could breathe and give life to a lot of diverse, amazing, different voices.”
Sam Feder – Heightened Scrutiny
Sam Feder returned to Sundance after bringing the beloved documentary Disclosure, now on Netflix, to audiences for the first time back in 2020. This time, his film Heightened Scrutiny explores not Hollywood representation but coverage of trans issues in newsrooms and anti-trans court cases. The film follows ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio as he battles anti-trans laws in the courts all the way up to his history-making argument in front of the Supreme Court. The film contextualizes these battles within a media landscape that continuously sets up these cases to fail.
When asked about his vision of a better Hollywood, Feder is confident in the fighters and agitators who are challenging the powers that be behind the scenes. “ I know we all need jobs, but things are so urgent and crucial right now, we have to stick out our necks,” he said, “if it’s not gonna be those of us behind the scenes, then it’s just not gonna happen.”
Bec Pecaut – Are You Scared To Be Yourself Because You Think That You Might Fail?
Marking the return of the former Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award in Acting winner Lío Mehiel, Bec Pecaut’s newest short film, which stars the celebrated actor, depicts a rarely seen part of the trans experience: recovering from a gender-affirming surgery. The film follows Mad who struggles with balancing a desire to connect with their partner and navigating the complicated relationship with their mother as they recover from top surgery.
Pecaut shared their perspective that many trans stories already fit into the paradigm of Hollywood movies. “ Every trans story is the story of a dream, […] I can’t imagine a more embodied version of filmic structure than a trans experience.” To that point, however, they crave a more nuanced trans story from the powers that be. “For me, [it’s about] taking the ‘Capital T’ trans out of Hollywood’s definition of the story,” they elaborated, cautioning Hollywood to not just greenlight films about trans people where the plot is just about them being a trans person.
Jess X Snow – Third Act and We Were The Scenery
This year marked an important first for producer and cinematographer Jess X Snow. Not only was this the multihyphenate filmmaker and artist’s first Sundance with not one but two films at the festival, but they also won the Sundance Short Film Jury Award for Non-Fiction for their short We Were The Scenery.
Snow served as a cinematographer for Third Act, a powerful documentary following director Tadashi Nakamura exploring his relationship and taking care of his father, legendary Asian American media trailblazer Robert A. Nakamura, through his battle with Parkinson’s disease. They also were the producer and cinematographer for the now award-winning short We Were The Scenery, which shares the story of a couple in their own words who fled Vietnam after the Vietnam War and ended up taking a job as extras in the now classic film Apocalypse Now.
Snow stressed that we need complex trans stories, not just ones focused on trauma or coming out. “ In terms of nonbinary cinema, I feel like there’s a lot more stories that need to be told,” they shared, adding that this is also true for Asian stories that often fall prey to the Model Minority trope.
LaTajh Simmons-Weaver – Hold Me Close
A love story within a love story, LaTajh Simmons-Weaver brought Black, queer love to the screen at Sundance alongside their partner and co-director Aurora Brachman. Hold Me Close, Simmons-Weaver’s nonfiction debut, is a poetic documentary following the relationship of Corinne and Tiana, a queer Black couple navigating life’s joys and challenges together. The film was heavily influenced by the pair’s own experiences and showed through the care and intimacy of the film, especially when navigating the complexities (and not so complexities) of dating while nonbinary.
“I think there should be more trust in the queer and trans filmmakers that we have an audience, we know that audience, and we know how to reach them,” said Simmons-Weaver. They shared that the film was unique in that it was fully funded and distributed by American Documentary’s POV, a rarity for short films, let alone short documentaries. This trust allowed them to craft a distinct and beautiful film. “ I hope that this experience, with POV, is that kind of proof of concept.”
Dylan Wardwell – Sweet Talkin’ Guy
This isn’t just Dylan Wardwell’s first Sundance but their first film festival ever with a film they directed. With help from her directing partner and brother, Spencer Wardwell, her debut film which she also stars in depicts a trans woman going on three dates with straight men. The men all begin to spiral as their internal struggle with their masculinity and sexuality manifests in awkward small talk.
Wardwell’s vision for a better Hollywood for trans stories was simple: cast more trans people as characters where being trans isn’t the plot. “ [We need] more characters, trans characters, that are complex and less tokenized, in which their identity is not the forefront of their struggles.”
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