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Trans filmmaker Sam Feder's latest film "Increased Examination" provides a powerful dual perspective – simultaneously an emotional portrait of a prominent trans advocate and a pointed analysis of media reporting about trans existence.

Legal Struggle at the Supreme Court

This feature traces ACLU attorney Chase Strangio as he gets ready for court proceedings in the important highest court case US v Skirmetti. These proceedings took place in late 2024, with the judiciary ultimately ruling in favor of Tennessee's argument, effectively permitting limitations on treatment for trans youth to stay in place across multiple US territories.

We created Heightened Scrutiny in only 16 months, stated Feder during an interview. By contrast, my previous film Disclosure took me five years, so this was a real push. Our purpose was to raise dialogue so people would learn more about the case.

Human Story Amid Political Struggle

Although Feder presents a comprehensive analysis of how major publications have spread transphobic rhetoric, the film's greatest contribution may be its engaging depiction of Strangio. Typically a cautious lawyer in public settings, Strangio reveals his vulnerability throughout the production.

This represented a substantial challenge, to reveal aspects of my life to a filmmaker that I had made efforts to keep personal, shared Strangio. Sam said he wanted the next generation to know that we tried, to see what was done in service of these struggles for our fundamental rights.

Varied Voices in the Movement

To enhance Strangio's narrative, Feder features numerous trans advocates, including prominent leaders from journalism and entertainment. This production also presents perspectives from cisgender advocates who analyze how mainstream organizations have added to negative reporting of trans people.

The experience of trans youth key to the court battle is represented through a remarkable 12-year-old activist named Mila. Viewers initially witness her fighting for her peers at a educational meeting, with later footage showing her speaking for transgender rights outside the highest court.

Intimate Moments Beyond the Courtroom

Heightened Scrutiny also contains emotional moments where Feder steps outside the ongoing legal struggle, including sequences of Strangio vacationing in Italy and receiving a body art featuring words from civil rights leader Pauli Murray's poem "Prediction."

This body art sequence is one of my most cherished sections in the movie, stated Strangio. Being tattooed is nearly like a meditative process for me, to be fully present in my body and to think of it as a vessel for things that are important to me.

Body Autonomy and Portrayal

The filmmaker's focus to thoughtfully capturing Strangio getting to his body art underscores that Heightened Scrutiny is fundamentally about transgender bodies – not just those of young people who confront prohibition of their right to live truly in their own bodies, but also the bodies of the numerous subjects who participate in the film.

I create films with a meaning, and part of that is selecting people who are brilliant and eloquent enough to carry the camera, shared Feder. When people ask me what they should dress for an filming, my reply is anything that makes you feel confident. That is essential to me – as trans people, we struggle so much with our image.

Impact and Hope

One factor that causes Feder's works excel is his evident skill for making his transgender subjects feel at ease, acknowledged and admired. This technique develops genuine chemistry between Feder and Strangio, enabling the director to achieve his aim of showing Strangio as a whole individual and leaving a document for future generations of how determinedly he and fellow activists have fought for trans liberties.

I don't want people to find themselves in a place of perpetual despair because of what the law is failing to provide us, shared Strangio. I want to be in a practice of using the law to reduce harm, but not to make it some sort of conduit for our liberation possibilities. The government is not going to be the reflection through which we see ourselves. We are that reflection, and it's really important that we keep having that dialogue in addition to conversations about fighting back these policies and practices.

Heightened Scrutiny is currently available for digital rental during Trans Visibility Week and will receive a wider release at a later date.