Luchina Fisher’s documentary The Dads introduces a new kind of father through the lens of trans rights.
“The government was never coming to save us,” says a trans father after Kamala Harris loses the presidency in 2024. This statement is a startling, apt admission that gets to the heart of Luchina Fisher’s thoughtful documentary, The Dads, which premiered at the SXSW festival.
Based on her Emmy-winning short film by the same title, The Dads follows a group of fathers who come together to defend and protect their trans children when the government fails them. Taking place in the lead-up to the 2024 Presidential Election, it’s a gut-wrenching, but important watch, even though you know what’s coming. (Remember when our current president told us that Project 2025 wasn’t anything to worry about?) Many of these families flee the country they love for the people they love.
“There’s nothing more manly than loving your child and protecting your family,” says one father.
This doc could have easily slipped into centering a group of men as they deal with having a child who’s “different,” but its breadth expands beyond the cabins and Zooms where they work out their emotions. These men are also grappling with their own relationship with gender identity and masculinity.
“I want to keep being a better dad, and I don’t know how,” admits Christoph Heinzer, a father to two nonbinary children. “You guys are here as mentors because I can’t go to the people I thought I could trust because they’re not keeping up. Good enough is not good enough anymore.”
Each summer, the dads get together for a retreat that not only provides an outlet for how to protect their children but also how to express themselves.
In this current political era of toxic masculinity, The Dads gives us hope that a new, more evolved man is on the horizon.
