Heightened Scrutiny

ICON GUIDE
OCOpen Caption screening
Additional program content
35mm
SFSensory Friendly. Details HERE

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Heightened Scrutiny

Virtual Q&A with director and producer Sam Feder

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.

Join us for a post-screening Happy Hour at Take 3 Wine Bar & Café—just show your ticket at the bar to get 50% off any wine on our menu. Meet your neighbors, make new friends, and raise a glass to queer cinema!

"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

PAST EVENTS

Virtual Q&A with director and producer Sam Feder
Thursday, Aug. 7 2025, 7:15
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  • Sam Feder is a Peabody Award-nominated film director and writer. Sam’s films explore the intersection of visibility and politics along the lines of race, class, and gender. Sam directed the award-winning Netflix Original documentary Disclosure (2020) and the widely acclaimed documentary Kate Bornstein Is a Queer & Pleasant Danger.

This film is part of the Out There series.



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