The Brandon Teena Story

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The Brandon Teena Story

Released Feb 21, 1998

1h 29m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

69%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Documenting the tragic tale of a transgender man from rural Nebraska who was murdered after two locals discovered his female origins, director Susan Muska delves into the story of Brandon Teena -- born Teena Brandon -- through a number of revealing sources. News footage and documents from the time of the murder lay out the facts of the case, while Muska conducts interviews with those closest to Teena, including several ex-girlfriends, to piece together a life and a crime.

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John Leonard

New York Magazine/Vulture

We are left with a sort of punk bafflement.

Feb 5, 2018

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The film itself is not slick and accomplished... Oddly enough, this is an effective style for this material; it captures the banality of the world in which individuality is seen as a threat.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS)

Rated: 3/5

Feb 18, 2007

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David Noh

Film Journal International

It's absorbing, often stomach-turning stuff, but, in the interests of filling feature length, the filmmakers stretch things out too much.

Jan 3, 2007

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

The strength of "The Brandon Teena Story" is that it briefly lets us hear Brandon speak for himself.

Rated: B+

May 27, 2006

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 3, 2005

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Audience Member

Great documentary!!! Love how the filmmaker was able to expose several of the actual events through witnesses and the criminals themselves!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/19

Full Review

Audience Member

exquisitely haunting, painful, informative documentary of the persecution, rape, and killing of an innocent trans identified person

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Just makes me sad. The director did not do a good job I will tell you that though. Just. Sad, sad Midwest tale.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not bad, but more on Teena and her life would have been good.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This movie was truly heartbreaking to watch. It's sad that this even happened,simply because people were uncomfortable within themselves and plain old ignorance.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

While this is far from being the best-produced documentary I've ever seen, I can forgive that because the subject matter is so horribly heart-wrenching. It kills me that a country founded on freedom and acceptance is still so full of hate, ignorance and fear of what's different. Many of the people interviewed in this film come across as though they believe Brandon deserved what was coming to him because of who he was and how he lived. While I was enraged watching this, I do think it's something that many people should see, because it's quite likely to open some eyes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

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Susan Muska

Director

Greta Olafsdóttir

Director

Kate Bornstein

Actor

JoAnne Brandon

Actor

Teena Brandon

Actor

John Lotter

Actor

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Synopsis

Documenting the tragic tale of a transgender man from rural Nebraska who was murdered after two locals discovered his female origins, director Susan Muska delves into the story of Brandon Teena -- born Teena Brandon -- through a number of revealing sources. News footage and documents from the time of the murder lay out the facts of the case, while Muska conducts interviews with those closest to Teena, including several ex-girlfriends, to piece together a life and a crime.

Director: Susan Muska, Greta Olafsdóttir
Producer: Susan Muska, Greta Olafsdóttir
Screenwriter: Greta Olafsdóttir, Susan Muska
Distributor: Zeitgeist Films
Production Co: Bless Bless Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 1998, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $91.6K
Runtime: 1h 29m

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