The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
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Through Netflix
Release
The film premiered in the documentary competition section at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21, 2017. In June 2017, Netflix acquired worldwide rights to the film. The film was released on the streaming service on October 6, 2017.
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Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96%, based on 28 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson uses its belated investigation into an activist's murder as the framework for a sobering look at the ongoing battle for equal rights." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Controversy
On October 7, 2017, transgender filmmaker Tourmaline wrote on Instagram alleging that France appropriated her research from a grant application for her film project (which would become Happy Birthday, Marsha!, a narrative short). France denied the allegation saying that he was already well into the research for his documentary when he first became aware of Tourmaline's work, while acknowledging that he "witnessed the obstacles [Tourmaline] faces as an artist who is also a transgender woman of color, obstacles that have been far less onerous" for him. On October 11, a more detailed account of Tourmaline's allegation was published on the Teen Vogue website. Subsequent investigations by Jezebel and The Advocate found no evidence in support of the allegation.