A ninety-minute
documentary, released in 1998, by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir about the
life and death of
Brandon Teena.
While 1999's Boys Don't Cry was a dramatized account of the events loosely based on the true crime book All She Wanted, The Brandon Teena Story features footage of Brandon himself and interviews with his mother, JoAnne Brandon, convicted murderers John Lotter and Tom Nissen, and transgender activist Kate Bornstein. Many portions were filmed on location in southeast Nebraska and the piece was given a country music soundtrack.
The idea to make the documentary came when the New York filmmakers read an Omaha Gazette story called "Dressed to Kill," and Muska was offered the opportunity to go to Falls City with a writer from the Village Voice. The Brandon Teena Story won awards at film festivals in Berlin and Vancouver and is presently available on VHS and DVD.