The Hollywood Insider Enigma Documentary by HBO & Max
With stunning archival footage and intimate storytelling, ‘Enigma’ reclaims the legacy of April Ashley, Amanda Lear, and the underground icons of Le Carrousel.
Zackary Drucker’s 2025 documentary ‘Enigma’, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is now streaming on Max, is a skillfully composed portrait of two pivotal figures in trans history: Amanda Lear and April Ashley. More than just a biographical recounting, ‘Enigma’ is a deep and emotional journey of identity, survival, and the definitions of truth in the public eye. Through these two icons, whose life trajectories both intersect and diverge dramatically, Drucker unearths the complex realities for these individuals who paved the way for future generations.
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Drucker, herself an Emmy-nominated director and a trailblazer in bringing trans narratives to mainstream platforms (notably ‘The Stroll’, ‘Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl’, and ‘The Lady and The Dale’). She approaches ‘Enigma’ with her signature blend of empathy, curiosity, and cultural analysis. What results is a film that does not dictate conclusions but gives autonomy for trans women to have a voice in their own stories, particularly for those whose lives have been policed, sensationalized, and mythologized.
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From Le Carrousel to the Public Eye
At its core, ‘Enigma’ explores the paths of two prominent women in the trans communities in their glamorous, complex, and challenging lives, though one of them has denied being transgender. Amanda Lear and April Ashley both emerged from the same vibrant scene in 1950s Paris, performing at Le Carrousel, a legendary nightclub that offered sanctuary to trans women in a time of rampant societal rejection. The documentary weaves archival footage, present-day interviews, and poignant conversations to chart how both women’s decisions about disclosure shaped their public legacies in different ways.
April Ashley’s journey is one of courageous transparency. As one of the first British people known to undergo gender confirmation surgery, Ashley’s rise to fame came with a heavy price. After modeling for Vogue, her gender history became publicly exposed, and she faced a scandalous divorce trial in 1970, where the judge’s ruling, legally declaring her male, became a landmark moment in British legal history, negatively impacting trans rights for decades. Yet, Ashley didn’t retreat from the spotlight. She owned her story, becoming an author, a speaker, and a prominent advocate for trans rights until her death in 2021. Through Ashley’s archival interviews and commentary from contemporary trans voices, Drucker paints her as a trailblazer who paid dearly for her truth, but whose bravery laid critical groundwork for future generations.
In a different light stands famed Amanda Lear; enigmatic, elegant, and fierce. Lear’s rise from Parisian model to disco queen and Salvador Dalí’s muse is the stuff of legend. But with her success came persistent rumors about her past identity, including her alleged performances as a trans woman under the name Peki d’Oslo at Le Carrousel. Despite numerous visual and testimonial connections between Lear and Peki, Lear has steadfastly denied any affiliation with that persona or any history of being assigned male at birth.
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The Hollywood Insider Enigma Documentary by HBO & Max, Amanda Lear
A History for the Now
Drucker’s interviews with Lear are a big part of the documentary. Presented with images and press clippings linking her to Peki d’Oslo, Lear brushes them off with shrugs, sly smiles, and deflection. “That’s not me. She does look like me a lot, but that’s not me,” she says, evading Drucker’s probing. When asked about her maiden name, she simply replies, “I forgot,” with a wag of her finger.
The interviews appear to be gently probing Lear’s past, hoping she might finally address the long-standing speculation about her early life. While Drucker’s persistent questioning at times edges toward the personal, it seems to come from a place of care, an effort to uplift and inspire trans communities by highlighting a potential icon in their history.
There’s no denying how powerful it could be for Lear to openly speak on her identity, especially given the influence she’s had on so many. But ‘Enigma’ also makes it clear that personal history is just that: personal. Amanda Lear doesn’t owe anyone an explanation about how she identifies or chooses to narrate her past.
Drucker leans into this complexity rather than shying away from it. There’s a palpable tension in the scenes where she, a trans woman herself, carefully but candidly asks Lear for clarity, sometimes pushing close to the edge, but never without compassion. The admiration is real. Drucker has shared that Lear was her own trans role model growing up; she once had her photo pinned to her wall, as a symbol of possibility and power.
Through Lear, ‘Enigma’ explores what it means to live as a myth, and the cost of surviving by omission. Through Ashley, it shows the price of living in radical transparency. Both women reflect different survival strategies within a society that has historically sought to dehumanize, expose, and control trans lives. By placing their stories in dialogue, Drucker refuses to make one the “right” path. Instead, she invites viewers to witness, reflect, and empathize.
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Telling These Stories is More Important than Ever
The documentary is further enriched by the voices of other trans performers and historians who contextualize the cultural legacy of Le Carrousel and its dazzling, defiant stars. We hear from legends like Bambi (Marie-Pierre Pruvot) and Dolly Van Doll (Carla Follis), as well as activists like Morgan M. Page and Allanah Starr, who frame Ashley and Lear not just as individuals, but as monuments in an era of survival and suppression.
‘Enigma’ couldn’t be more timely. It reminds us that the struggle for visibility and dignity has always been fraught, and that the legacy of those who navigated these battles decades ago is invaluable and still being fought today. ‘Enigma’ is a celebration of ambiguity, a critique of erasure, and an ode to the many ways trans people have claimed space, survived, and thrived in the margins of mainstream history.
Credits:
Director: Zackary Drucker
Cast: April Ashley, Amanda Lear, Rebecca Root
By Elizabeth Gelber
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Elizabeth Gelber is an aspiring film and television producer and writer with a love for all things media, from music to fashion to entertainment. With a background in Television, Radio, and Film, as well as Fashion Communications, she is passionate about telling female-led stories that empower and resonate. Her work blends wit with empathy, aiming to humanize entertainment through an authentic lens. She believes the most powerful narratives are often rooted in everyday life, and she is drawn to creating media that reflects the world as it truly is, diverse, imperfect, and meaningful.
Elizabeth Gelber is an aspiring film and television producer and writer with a love for all things media, from music to fashion to entertainment. With a background in Television, Radio, and Film, as well as Fashion Communications, she is passionate about telling female-led stories that empower and resonate. Her work blends wit with empathy, aiming to humanize entertainment through an authentic lens. She believes the most powerful narratives are often rooted in everyday life, and she is drawn to creating media that reflects the world as it truly is, diverse, imperfect, and meaningful.
