Enigma

Watched at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

I have respect for trans filmmakers being able to create projects to tell stories about identity and self through their perspectives, especially with how the current state and politics are in the world. Filmmaker and activist Zackary Drucker tells the story of two icons April Ashley and Amanda Lear and despite some flawed structures, it remains a insightful and engaging observations about the two icons, their impact, and what made them special and important to the LGBTQ community.

Drucker is able to get into both of the two individuals personalities and what made them famous. With good discussions, uses of music, and style of editing, it does a good work on telling this story. Especially on the in-depth scales. I won't say it's perfect as certain aspects does run the well dry. But as a whole, I really appreciate what Drucker is going for.

I highly recommend her work on "The Stroll (2023)" if you like this one.

This was a great documentary! It was the story of Ashley April and Amanda Lear. I was not familiar with their stories until this documentary but know since watching this, I've fallen down the rabbit hole trying to find out even more about them. Enigma tells the story of these two trans women who both started out at the same drag club in the late 40's and '50's in Paris called the Carousel. This aspect was interesting to me as well. I didn't know much about what it was like in France for. Trans person at this time. It was interesting how it was still illegal in France as in America at the time yet at the same time the Carousel considered the coolest club in all of France. The film's focus was although two women started out as performers, both be accepted as women and have a how that led them down two very different paths!

Loved this documentary! Need more like it!

I don't understand why the interviewer tried so hard to make Amanda Lear « come out » as trans when she clearly, since the 60's, denied that she's a transwoman. And even if that's the case, isn't trans people has the right to leave the past behind and « reborn » as the person they truly are.

It totally make the doc gross and tabloid like. Especially the end when Zackary Drucker was pushing the insinuation.

The part about April Ashley was way more intersting, it would have been nice to have more about Marie-Pierre and maybe other icons from that era like Coccinelle, the one who did everything before everyone else.