THE DADS feature documentary premiered at the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.
A group of dads building a movement to support their trans and gender expansive kids are forced to make an impossible choice amid a shifting political landscape: stay and fight or flee the country.
“A big bear hug of a film”
“Vulnerable and honest”
“Timely and poignant”
WATCH THE TRAILER
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
WINNER
Audience Award, Best Feature Film
2026 CinemaQ Film Festival
Nominations
Best Documentary Feature
2026 Florida Film Festival
Audience Award
2026 Sofia Pride Film Festival
ABOUT THE FILM
Inspired by the Emmy-Award winning short documentary of the same name (Netflix 2023), THE DADS follows fathers of trans and nonbinary children forced to choose between country and family amid a shifting political landscape.
Filmed over the course of a year—from quiet retreats in rural Maine and Minnesota to protests, family milestones, a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decision, and the collapse of gender-affirming care for youth—the film captures a moment of national reckoning with striking intimacy.
Directed by Emmy Award–winning filmmaker Luchina Fisher and executive produced by Dwyane Wade, this is fatherhood as an act of radical love and resistance.
SCREENINGS
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Thursday, June 18, 2026
3:00 PM CDT
Skylight 5 Theater
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmakers
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Friday, June 19, 2026
4:00PM PST
Castro Theater
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmaker
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Saturday, June 20, 2026
10:45AM EST
Terrace Theater
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmakers
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Sunday, Father’s Day, June 21, 2026
2-5 PM CDT
Abbott Hall, Northwestern University Chicago Campus
Post Screening Q&A with the filmmaker
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1:00pm PDT
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Event Info TBA
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Post Screening Q&A with the filmmaker
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Friday, July 12, 2026 & Monday, July 15, 2026
6:20PM EST & 9:40PM EST
Maine Film Center 2 &
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PAST
MEET THE TEAM
Luchina Fisher Director
Luchina Fisher is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker, educator and speaker. Her latest film, the feature documentary THE DADS, about fathers of trans and gender expansive kids, is a follow-up to her Emmy Award-winning short documentary of the same name (Netflix). Her feature directorial debut, “Mama Gloria,” was nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award and broadcast on PBS. Fisher began her career as a journalist, writing for the Miami Herald, People, The Oprah Magazine and ABC News, and is a 2026 North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame inductee for her social justice filmmaking. She sits on the board of New York Women in Film and Television and teaches film at Wesleyan University.
Stephen Chukumba Producer
Stephen Chukumba, is the founder and Executive Director of The Dads Foundation, a national organization supporting fathers and male caregivers of gender expansive children. Stephen is raising and amplifying the voices, issues and concerns of fathers of gender-expansive people and their families nationwide.
Dwyane Wade Executive Producer
Dwyane Wade is a former NBA Hall of Fame basketball player, business mogul, father and dedicated social justice activist. He founded the two-time Emmy winning, Oscar- and Tony-nominated production company 59th & Prairie Entertainment.
MEET THE DADS
Stephen Chukumba
Widowed father of four, including his trans son Hobbes
Ed Diaz
Father of trans daughter, Charli
AC Goldberg
Trans man and father of two
Christoph Heinzer
Father of two nonbinary children, Dylan and Sierra
Jose Trujillo
Father of trans son Daniel
Wayne Maines
Father of two, including actress and trans advocate Nicole Maines
Frank Gonzales
Father of three, including trans daughter Libby
SELECT PRESS
For some parents of trans kids, leaving America no longer feels unthinkable
June 10, 2026, by Christopher Wiggins, READ
The Dads Captures Families Fighting for Trans Youth
May 28, 2026, by Michael Robinson, READ
SXSW 2026 - The Dads and Adam's Apple
April 6, 2026, by Staff, READ
“‘Proudly Claiming Our Tears’” Fathers Stand Together for Their Trans and Nonbinary Kids
March 31, 2026, by Kit O’Connell, *also e-blasted by the ‘Big and Bright’ newsletter, READ
“Hope that a new, more evolved man is on the horizon.” “SXSW Review: ‘The Dads’ Documentary Covers a Different Side in the Fight for Trans Rights”
March 23, 2026, by Megan McLachlan, READ
“Unique perspective and honest look.” “SXSW 2026 Review: THE DADS – Fishers’ Follow-Up Revisits Subjects During Urgent Times”
March 20, 2026, by Borja Izuzquiza, READ
“A big bear hug of a film.” ‘The Dads’ Review: Fathers of Trans Kids Support and Advise One Another in an Accessible and Moving Doc
March 20, 2026, by Leslie Felperin, READ
New doc 'The Dads' features San Antonio family that left Texas over anti-trans laws
March 18, 2026, by Deborah Martin, READ
“Timely and poignant journey.” “7 unmissable films from South by Southwest 2026”
March 18, 2026, by Laura Pitcher, READ
How Luchina Fisher's Award-Winning Trans Rights Short Became A Dwyane Wade-Produced Critical Sensation
March 18, 2026, by Tatiana Hullender, READ
“Poignant and emotionally stirring.” “Full of memorable and insightful dialogue” “SXSW Film Review: The Dads”
March 17, 2026, by Trish Connelly, READ
What to watch at SXSW - part three
March 17, 2026, READ
San Antonio father fights for his transgender daughter in the documentary ‘The Dads’
March 16, 2026, by Kiko Martinez, *also ran in print, READ
Interview: Luchina Fisher on Returning to a Topic More Relevant Now Than Ever with Her Feature Documentary ‘The Dads’
March 14, 2026, by Abe Friedtanzer, READ
Dwyane Wade offers message for Trump administration on trans kids
March 14, 2026 by David Oliver, READ
“These men are vulnerable and honest.”“SXSW 2026: Adam’s Apple, The Dads, Your Attention Please”
March 14, 2026, by Brian Tallerico, READ
“Moving and galvanizing.” ‘The Dads’ is a moving and galvanizing feature that expands on Luchina Fisher’s original short. [SXSW]”
March 14, 2026, by Douglas Davidson, READ
“Deserves as wide an audience as possible.” ‘The Dads’ Review: A Touching Look At Children In Transition And The Fathers Who Support Them [SXSW]”
March 14, 2026, by Brian Farvour, READ
Dwyane Wade on ‘The Dads’, Raising a Trans Kid and the “Superhero Stuff” of NBA Records
March 13, 2026, by Seth Abramovitch, READ
SXSW 2026: 15 Film and TV Premieres We’re Psyched to See in Austin
March 12, 2026, by Staff, READ
