Netflix’s New Documentary Explores The History & Stories Of Trans People On Film
This is going to be an emotional ride. The upcoming documentary will go deep into the history of trans people and their representation on film and in the media. Disclosure on Netflix comes from director Sam Feder and producer Laverne Cox and includes interviews from members of the community who speak about their difficult life experiences.
Netflix's Twitter account just dropped the trailer today and announced that the documentary will premiere internationally on June 19.
According to IMDb, the one hour and 40-minute film takes "an in-depth look at Hollywood's depiction of transgender people and the impact of those stories on transgender lives and American culture."
In the video, Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox speaks about her experience as a trans woman.
"I never thought I'd live in a world where trans people would be celebrated on or off the screen," Cox says. "I never thought the media would stop asking horrible questions, and start treating us with respect. Now, look how far we've come. We are everywhere."
She continues, "At this point, we're talking really about unprecedented trans visibility, trans people are being murdered disproportionally still."
The trailer features clips from TV shows and movies over the years that have helped bring representation in government and the media.
"For the first time, trans people are taking center of their own storytelling," writer Jen Richards says.
Actress Jamie Clayton adds, "The more positive representation there is, the more confidence the community gains, which then puts us in more danger."
The trailer finishes with Cox saying, "I think for a very long time, the ways in which trans people have been represented on screen have suggested that we’re not real, that we don’t exist. And yet here I am. Yet here we are, and we’ve always been here."
IMDb claims that dozens of famous faces make an appearance in the documentary including Alexandra Billings, Chaz Bono, Candis Cayne, Jessica Crockett, Mickey R. Mahoney, and Brian Michael Smith among more.
The film had its premiere at the Sundance festival earlier this year, and Netflix recently acquired the worldwide rights to it, per Deadline.
"Now that Netflix has acquired Disclosure, people all over the world will be able to see it during Pride, when the LGBTQ community is usually out on the streets celebrating our lives and fighting for our rights," director Sam Feder told Deadline. "I am so proud of all the trans people who helped make Disclosure what it is, and I can’t wait to share it."
In a note Feder and producer Amy Scholder posted on Twitter, they wrote, "We believe in the power of film and the media to help us understand where we have come from and to imagine possible futures. As trans people, as artists, as activists, we know how to reimagine the world in order to find ourselves in it."
You can watch Disclosure when it premieres on Netflix on June 19. Watch the trailer below.