Heightened Scrutiny

ICON GUIDE
OCOpen Caption screening
Additional program content
35mm
SFSensory Friendly. Details HERE
  • Thursday, Aug 7

Showtimes updated on Tuesday evenings

Heightened Scrutiny

Q&A with Special Guest Panelists

Heightened Scrutiny follows Chase Strangio, ACLU attorney and the first out trans person to argue before the Supreme Court, as he fights a high-stakes legal battle to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth (United States v. Skrmetti).

The film exposes the dangerous role of mainstream media in fueling anti-trans legislation, uncovering how biased coverage drives hate, endangers lives, and threatens democracy itself. With insights from journalists like Jelani Cobb, Lydia Polgreen, and Gina Chua, and activists like Laverne Cox, the story dismantles anti-trans disinformation and highlights its devastating real-world impact.

As SCOTUS prepares to rule on the case, Heightened Scrutiny reveals the fight for bodily autonomy as a fight for the soul of democracy, offering a powerful call to action against bigotry and injustice.

"Sam Feder’s intimate film spreads out its purview to better understand how the nation took a hard turn against trans people."
Jacob Oller, AV Club
"Heightened Scrutiny succeeds in its mission of educating a public whose minds have been corrupted by the weaving of fictions presented as truth... [the film] reminded me... that the hope is inside of us, and that only through coalition building and helping others who need it the most will it truly be fulfilled."
Harrison Richlin, IndieWire

This film is part of the Out There series.



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