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On the verge of graduating high school, two cisgender boys pretend to be transgender to get into the girl’s locker room. It sounds like a ferocious right wing fever dream. However, in the silly but lovable “She’s the He,” debuting feature director Siobhan McCarthy — and their heavily trans and nonbinary cast and crew — find the farce through a twist: one of the “boys” discovers she really is transgender. The result is a meaningful comedy-drama about identity, and the confusion of burgeoning youth.

Half the fun of “She’s the He” lies in its Russian-nesting-doll logistics: It’s a film in which trans and non-binary actors play ostensibly cisgender characters pretending to be trans. Not only does this subvert the Hollywood norm of having cisgender men play trans women (and sometimes receiving Oscar attention for it!), it also adds a playful fluidity to the film’s purview of queerness, as though...

In the indie comedy “She’s the He,” which premiered at SXSW on Sunday, high school seniors Alex and Ethan decide during the last week of school to pretend they’re trans so they can sneak into the women’s locker room. If that sounds like a premise lifted right out of Maga-era attacks on trans rights, it’s because it is — that’s the point.

First-time writer-director Siobhan McCarthy dreamed up the idea just over a year ago, in February 2024, after discovering online that the one high school comedy that spoke to them as a teenager — the 2006 Amanda Bynes comedy “She’s the Man” — was just as formative for many other trans kids. That led to a conversation with their friend, Will Geare (who co-edited “She’s the He” with McCarthy), about the kinds of trans stories they both wished they’d been able to see when they were younger.

“I made a joke about,...

Two high school friends pose as trans women in the teaser trailer for the comedy film She’s the He, which is set to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival.

Starring Misha Osherovich and Nico Carney, writer-director Siobhan McCarthy’s feature makes its world premiere at SXSW on March 9. Rounding out the cast are Suzanne Cryer (Broad City), Mark Indelicato (Hacks), Malia Pyles (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin), Emmett Preciado (Good Trouble), Aparna Nancherla (Another Simple Favor), Kyle Butenhoff (Monsters), Tatiana Ringsby and Emma Orr.

She’s the He focuses on high school friends Ethan (Osherovich) and Alex (Carney), who pretend to be trans women during the final week before graduation to help Alex connect with his crush. In the process, Ethan realizes she is actually trans.

“The only way that I can think of to make you seem not super gay is if I was a girl,” Osherovich says in the below trailer,...

The Los Angeles Festival of Movies has announced dates for the festival’s second edition, set to take place April 3-6.

The first festival, co-presented by Mubi and the Mezzanine film non-profit, drew a young and enthusiastic crowd to L.A. venues on the eastern side of town for events including the West Coast premiere of “I Saw the TV Glow” and “Good One,” as well as the first episode of HBO’s documentary series “Ren Faire,” and 4K restorations including Chantal Akerman’s “Toute Une Nuit.”

Mezzanine and the festival will also present fall and winter screening events, to be announced.

“Independent cinema is alive and well in Los Angeles,” said Lafm director of programming Micah Gottlieb. “We were overwhelmed by the response to our inaugural festival, and we’re launching this second edition feeling energized and inspired by the local film community.”

Screening venues will again include 2220 Arts...

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Back in the mid-2010s — before Ann Thomas started her Transgender Talent management company — it wasn’t always easy for Hollywood productions to find trans actors. “They were calling around to LGBT centers: ‘Do you happen to know somebody?'” recalls Thomas, who started the agency in 2015 after appearing on an episode of Glee that featured a 197-person-strong, all-trans choir, many of whose members were found through such untraditional casting methods.

Since then, Thomas has won roles for an array of the company’s trans and nonbinary clients including Zoey Luna (a lead in the 2020 film The Craft: Legacy), Shannon Gibbs (Jackass 4.5) and Emmett Preciado (Good Trouble). “She cares about the job part of it and she cares about the emotions of every single one of the people whom she represents,” Luna says of her manager.

Adds Blumhouse head of casting Terri Taylor,...