Happy Birthday, Marsha!

Directed by Reina Gossett & Sasha Wortzel

The story of extraordinary transgender rights activists, pioneers, and friends, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, in the hours before the Stonewall riots.
Rather than reduce Marsha P. Johnson to a historical symbol, Happy Birthday, Marsha! imagines her as a person moving through friendship, performance, frustration and joy on the day before Stonewall. This short film can feel stylistically uneven, but Mya Taylor gives it enormous presence. The use of archival Marsha alongside the dramatisation keeps the woman herself from disappearing behind the legend.

Happy Birthday, Marsha!

Directed by Reina Gossett & Sasha Wortzel

The story of extraordinary transgender rights activists, pioneers, and friends, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, in the hours before the Stonewall riots.

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Rather than reduce Marsha P. Johnson to a historical symbol, Happy Birthday, Marsha! imagines her as a person moving through friendship, performance, frustration and joy on the day before Stonewall. This short film can feel stylistically uneven, but Mya Taylor gives it enormous presence. The use of archival Marsha alongside the dramatisation keeps the woman herself from disappearing behind the legend.