US Edition
HBO Documentary ‘Enigma’ Explores Transgender Identity and Legacy
- The documentary Enigma, directed by Zackary Drucker, premiered on June 24, 2025, on HBO and HBO Max, exploring transgender identity through April Ashley and Amanda Lear.
- Drucker chose to tell the intertwined stories of Ashley and Lear because Ashley’s history illuminated Amanda’s contrasting, secretive path in a hostile era for transgender people.
- The film traces their beginnings in the 1950s at Le Carrousel, a Paris nightclub that provided a rare safe space for trans women amid social prejudice and legal dangers.
- Ashley was publicly outed as trans in 1961, lost her modeling career, endured a legal ruling confirming her sex as male, and later became a trans rights advocate, while Lear denied being transgender.
- Enigma highlights community and resilience as vital survival strategies, conveying a hopeful message for trans people today, especially younger generations facing renewed challenges.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Two of history's important trans women celebrated in new HBO doc
A new documentary tells the queer history of April Ashley and Amanda Lear, and the trans-inclusive Parisian nightclub that defined them. Enigma, an HBO original, follows the lives of Lear, also known as Peki D’Oslo, and Ashley, who both rose to fame performing at the Le Carrousel, a Parisian nightclub known as a safe space for transgender women in the 50s. The club, which closed its doors in 2016, was frequented by famous stars such as Spanish a…
Director Zackary Drucker on how 'Enigma' fights trans erasure
Filmmaker and historian Zackary Drucker still remembers the first time she heard the name Amanda Lear. She was 18 and had just moved to New York, where she made a trans friend who was obsessed with disco. Sign up for the Out Newsletter to keep up with what's new in LGBTQ+ culture and entertainment — delivered three times a week straight (well…) to your inbox! When her friend told her about Lear, Drucker looked her up and thought she was "the m…
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