HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY Premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

Fearless civil rights lawyer Chase Strangio battles at the Supreme Court for transgender adolescents’ access to gender-affirming healthcare, confronting not only the legal system but also a media landscape that distorts public perception and threatens the struggle for trans rights. With the dangerous SCOTUS decision upholding the ban on life-saving healthcare, HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY is an urgent call to action against bigotry and injustice.

“Essential and accessible.”

“Packs a powerful punch.

“[A] stirring exposé.”

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AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

WINNER

Audience Award, Runner-Up
2025 Salem Film Festival

WINNER

DOCNYC SHORT LIST
2025

JURY AWARD

Best Documentary
2025 Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival


“The Jury selected Heightened Scrutiny not only for its quality, but also for the gravity and timeliness of the film’s topic in the current political environment”

WINNER

Special Jury Award
2025 Freiburg Gay Film Festival

JURY AWARD

Documentary Feature
2025 Bentonville Film Festival

WINNER

Best Documentary
2025 Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival

NOMINEE

Outstanding Documentary
2026 GLAAD

NOMINEE

Greg Gund Memorial
Standing Up Award
2025 Cleveland International Film Festival

NOMINEE

Knight Documentary Award
2025 Miami Film Festival

NOMINEE

LGBTQ Documentary Award
2026 DORIAN FILM AWARDS

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 (L.W. 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.

With the dangerous SCOTUS decision upholding the ban on life-saving healthcare, HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY is an urgent call to action against bigotry and injustice.

ABOUT THE FILM

WATCH

HEIGHTENED SCRUTINY premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and has since screened at select festivals across the globe. The film is now at the ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE and movie theaters across the U.S.

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

  • Event Info

    Date: Thursday, July 9, 2026

    Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

    Time Zone: Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)

    Location: Coolidge Museum

  • TICKET INFO

  • 6pm

    Mid-Continent Library, Green Hills Library Center community room, 8581 N Green Hills Rd, Kansas City, MO 64154

  • 6pm

    UAF Legacy Health
    150 South 1000 East
    Salt Lake City, UT 84102

  • 7pm

    The Grand Cinema
    606 Fawcett Avenue
    Tacoma, WA 98402

  • TICKET INFO

  • 5pm

    Charlie's Queer Books
    465 N 36th St
    Seattle, WA
    98103

  • Doors at 6pm, Film at 7pm

    315 E Grand River Ave, Howell, MI 48843

  • Northwest Film Forum
    1515 12th Ave,

    98122
    7pm

  • Register Here
    More Info

    Community partners: ACLU of Arizona, Just Schools, AZTYPO

  • Ticket Info
    More Info
    Arizona Democracy Resource Center Office
    7218 S 3rd Ave Phoenix, AZ 85041

  • Ticket Info

    Partnering with Empowerment Lab and Rainbow Coalition

  • Ticket Info

    More Info

    Valley UU Congregation 6400 Del Rio Chandler AZ 85226

  • Ticket Info

FILMMAKERS

SAM FEDER

DIRECTOR / PRODUCER

Sam Feder created and directed the critically acclaimed films, Heightened Scrutiny (Sundance 2025), DISCLOSURE (Sundance 2020), Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger (2014), and Boy I Am (2006).  Sam’s filmmaking practice centers on exposing silences in order to build solidarity across movements for political, social, and economic justice. Sam’s work has been programmed internationally at festivals, theaters, and museums such as, Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, CPH:DOX, Thessaloniki Film Festival, DOCNYC, Sheffield DocFest, DC/DOXS, MOMA-PS1, The Hammer Museum, The Alamo Drafthouse and more. Sam’s film DISCLOSURE, was nominated for a Peabody Award and they were recently invited to be a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch.

AMY SCHOLDER

PRODUCER

Amy Scholder has produced two highly acclaimed feature films. My Name Is Andrea, a hybrid documentary about feminist iconoclast Andrea Dworkin, directed by Pratibha Parmar, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Disclosure, a documentary about the history transgender representation in film and TV directed by Sam Feder, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, and was released as a Netflix Original in June 2020.

PAOLA MENDOZA

PRODUCER

Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author, and artist. She is a co-founder of The Women’s March and served as its Artistic Director. She was a leading participant in the New York Times best-seller Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard Around the World (Dey Street Books, January 2018). As a film director, tackling complex issues like poverty and immigration and the impacts on women and children in the United States, her films have premiered at prestigious film festivals around the world.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Laverne Cox
S. Mona Sinha
Bill & Ruth Ann Harnisch
Lisa Freeman
Sara Hinkle

CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Charlotte Cook
Andrew Kim

Contributing Producer 
James Costa
Danielle Benedict
Jake Casey

Consulting Producer 
Gina Chua
Muna Mire
Alberto Cairo

Editor
Emelie Mahdavian

Assistant Editor
Nancy Nguyen

Director of Photography
Martin DiCicco

Director of Photography
Mariam Dwedar

Music
Jonathan Sanford

Assistant Director
Laura Klein

Production Coordinator
Lauren Greenhall

Camera Operator
Emir Fils-Aime

First Assistant Camera
Madeline Rivera

Digital Imaging Technician
Madeline Rivera
Khadijah Wilson

Additional Camera
Derek Howard
Maksim Axelrod
Lauren Mendoza
J. Bennett
Chris Wairegi
Whitney Shefte

Chief Lighting Technician
Omar Nasr

Key Grip
Alex Blum 

G&E Swing
Agustina Biasutto

Production Sound
Wesley Grant 

Additional Sound
Amelia Palmer 
Jim Choi
Aisha Hallgren

Production Design
Violet Overn 

On-Set Dresser
Leda Seda

Art Assistant
Alexis Blake

Make Up Artist 
Judy Chung 
Robert Reyes 

Hair Stylist
Dee Tranny Bear 
M Alsondo 

Production Assistant
Griffin Garnett
Mariales Diaz
Claire Seaton

Production DEI Specialist
S. Leigh Thompson

As the Production DEI Specialist for Heightened Scrutiny, S. Leigh Thompson ensured the production team's strong trans-inclusive intentions were fully enacted on set. Leigh trained crew members on affirming practices, supported talent and staff in navigating sensitive topics, and conducted pre- and post-interviews with each on-screen participant to ensure they felt prepared and supported. He helped create an environment where everyone could engage with the film’s complex themes with care, clarity, and confidence.  

FEATURED IN THE FILM

  • Tre'Vell Anderson

    Journalist and Author

  • Mina Brewer

    Real Estate Agent

  • Alberto Cairo

    Knight Chair in Infographics & Data Visualization, University of Miami

  • Gina Chua

    Executive Editor, Semafor,
    Board Member, Trans Journalists Association

  • Jelani Cobb

    Dean, Columbia School of Journalism
    Staff Writer, The New Yorker

  • Laverne Cox

    Actress and Producer

  • Jude Ellison S. Doyle

    Journalist and Author

  • Ari Drennen

    Media Matters LGBTQ Program Director

  • Morgan D. Givens

    Audio Journalist

  • Julie Hollar

    Senior Analyst, FAIR

  • Sabrina Imbler

    Staff Writer, Defector
    New York Times Fellow 2022

  • Elliot Page

    Actor and Producer

  • Miss Peppermint

    TV Actress and Broadway Performer

  • Kae Petrin

    Data & Graphics Reporter, Civic News Company
    Co-Founder, Trans Journalists Association

  • Lydia Polgreen

    Opinion Columnist, New York Times

  • Erin Reed

    Journalist

  • Chase Strangio

    Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

  • Evan Urquart

    Journalist and Founder, Assigned Media

  • Lewis Raven Wallace

    Journalist and Author

SELECT PRESS

A documentary follows the first openly trans person to argue before the Supreme Court

NPR WEEKEND EDITION, July 22, 2025