Framing Agnes (DVD)

US Import

The pseudonymous Agnes was a pioneering transgender woman who participated in
an infamous gender health study conducted at UCLA in the 1960s. Her clever use of the
study to gain access to gender-affirming healthcare led to her status as a fascinating
and celebrated figure in trans history. In this innovative cinematic exercise that blends
fiction and nonfiction, director Chase Joynt (No Ordinary Man) uses Agnes’s story,
along with others unearthed in long-shelved case files, to widen the frame through
which trans history is viewed. Through a collaborative practice of reimagination, an
all-star cast of trans performers, artists, and thinkers – including Angelica Ross (Pose),
Jen Richards (Mrs. Fletcher), and Zackary Drucker (Transparent) – take on vividly
rendered, impeccably vintage reenactments, bringing to life groundbreaking artifacts
of trans history. This collective reclamation breaks down the myth of isolation among
transgender history-makers, breathing new life into a lineage of collaborators and
conspirators who have been forgotten for far too long.