‘The Death And Life Of Marsha P. Johnson’ Trailer: Docu Tells The Overlooked Story Of Trans Activist

The new trailer for the Netflix documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson from Academy Award-nominated director David France (How to Survive a Plague) puts the spotlight on the titular Johnson, who has been dubbed as the Rosa Parks of the LGBT movement.

In 1992, Johnson was found dead and floating in the Hudson River. The NYPD chalked it up as a suicide, but the docu goes into why this might not be the case. Johnson’s friend and fellow activist Victoria Cruz takes it upon herself to revisit and reexamine her death. With archival footage depicting a whole different era of New York City, France’s film pursues leads, mobilizes officials, and works to tell the story of Johnson’s life and get to the bottom of Marsha’s death.

Part LGBT history lesson, part crime story, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, explores the seldom-told story of the self-described “street queen” who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall Riots — a story that was overlooked in the highly-criticized Roland Emmerich film Stonewall. The docu is timely considering the recent surge of violence against the trans community — particularly trans women of color.