State of Firsts

State of Firsts

NR 2026 · 93 min · Documentary

A documentary that follows Sarah McBride’s groundbreaking first year in Congress as the first openly transgender person elected to the U.S. legislature, State of Firsts captures her battle against relentless political attacks. As MAGA Republicans ban her from restrooms and publicly misgender her, McBride confronts threats and discrimination with resilience. Focused on meaningful policy work over partisan conflict, she draws inspiration from historical figures who overcame adversity, offering a powerful look at perseverance in the face of systemic opposition.

Directed by Chase Joynt · Written by Rachel Lears

Your Rating

Cast

Sarah McBride Self

Make it a double feature

3h 2m together

State of Firsts

The Nest

Both from Chase Joynt.

More from Chase JoyntSee all →

The Nest

The Nest · 2025

MovieDocumentary

When her mother decides to sell their house, decolonial writer Julietta Singh returns to her childhood home on the Assiniboine River to say goodbye. As Singh listens to the stories embedded in its walls, the house reveals 140 years of overlooked histories—Japanese, Deaf, Métis, Indigenous, and Irish women whose lives, like Singh’s, were shaped by resistance and care. In this genre-defying, cross-community film, the home becomes more than a personal archive, transforming into a site of radical feminist possibility.

Framing Agnes

Framing Agnes · 2022

MovieDocumentary

After discovering case files from the UCLA gender clinic from the 1950s, a group of trans actors confronts the legacy of young trans women being forced to choose between honesty and access.

No Ordinary Man

No Ordinary Man · 2021

No Ordinary Man

MovieDocumentary

The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th-century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists.

Akin

With haunting suburban visuals backed by the rich sounds of Toronto based-band Ohbijou, Akin powerfully engages in a relationship between an Orthodox Jewish mother and her transgender son as they navigate the haunted secrets of a shared past.

Survivor Made

Survivor Made · 2024

MovieDocumentary

Survivor Made follows a group of survivors of gender-based violence as they defy the odds - building their own businesses in Los Angeles, lobbying in Washington DC, and fighting to prove that investing in survivors saves lives.

Door Prize

Door Prize · 2025

MovieMusicMystery

Mars Brito, a trans bike courier, is killed by an SUV. Is he the victim of an accidental 'door prize', or is this murder? His case becomes a city-wide obsession, with hourly true crime updates and rewards for clues. While this murder mystery unfolds, a Toronto trans activist (also named Mars) works with his friends on an operatic memorial, creating arias for each of the 375 trans murders that were committed around the world that year. Door Prize weaves together documentary, drama, and opera scenes into a hybrid film that explores issues of media spectacle, solidarity violence, trans visibility, and anti-trans violence.

Stealth

Stealth · 2014

MovieDocumentary

By merging hidden camera footage from a patient’s hysterectomy, with interviews of the objects used in these procedures and spaces, Stealth poignantly and humorously mobilizes ‘sousveillance’ to subvert the perspective of surveilling machinery. Through a triangulation of corporeal, medical and military technologies, Stealth provocatively points to previously unexplored histories and relationships between inanimate objects and human bodies.

Framing Agnes

Framing Agnes · 2019

In the late 1950s, a woman named Agnes approached the UCLA Medical Center seeking sex reassignment surgery. Her story was long considered to be exceptional and singular until never-before-seen case files of other patients were found in 2017. Framing Agnes features preeminent trans culture-makers breathing new life into those who redefined gender in the midcentury.

I'm Yours

I'm Yours · 2012

MovieComedyDocumentary

A doc-style short showing two people who transitioned to the other sex answering the same questions. Director Chase Joynt uses clever cuts to create rhythmic montages through their juxtaposition.

More Like This

Couldn't load this row right now.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter