# Filmmakers Working on 'Aftermath' Documentary About Brandon Teena Legacy **Published:** 2026-06-10T10:00:00.000Z **Source:** [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-documentary-brought-brandon-teenas-murder-to-a-national-audience-its-makers-are-working-on-a-sequel/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/filmmakers-working-on-aftermath-documentary-about-brandon-teena-legacy New York-based filmmakers Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir are in the early editing stages of a follow-up documentary examining the three decades of change—and stagnation—since [their landmark 1998 film "The Brandon Teena Story."](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-documentary-brought-brandon-teenas-murder-to-a-national-audience-its-makers-are-working-on-a-sequel/) Brandon Teena was a 21-year-old transgender man raped and murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska, along with two witnesses, Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert, by John Lotter and Tom Nissen. The crimes occurred on New Year's Eve 1993, galvanizing national attention to hate crimes against the LGBTQ community. The Brandon Teena Story is a 1998 American documentary film directed by Susan Muska and Greta Olafsdottir that features interviews with many of the people involved with the 1993 murder of Brandon Teena as well as archive footage of Teena. The new film, titled "Aftermath," is slated for release in late 2027. Teena's murder, along with that of Matthew Shepard nearly five years later, led to increased lobbying for hate crime laws in the United States. Now Muska and Olafsdottir are revisiting figures in Teena's life and examining whether conditions for transgender people have improved in Nebraska and nationally. "Through these lives, we're looking at what has changed, what has not changed, are LGBTQ+ transgendered lives better now or worse, is Nebraska better now or worse, and where are we going," Olafsdottir said in the source article. The filmmakers face substantial ground to cover. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed into law a bill banning transgender athletes from girls' sports in June 2025, with an amended version that banned gender-affirming surgery — but not all gender-affirming care — for minors passed in 2023. Legislative Bill 89, the "Stand With Women Act" from State Sen. Kathleen Kauth, passed 33-16 and Nebraska joined more than two dozen states with similar laws already on the books. National polling reflects shifting public sentiment. In 2018, Donna Minkowitz, the journalist whose reporting on Teena's murder first brought the story to a wider audience, wrote a piece for the Village Voice in which she expressed her regret for not understanding transgender people when she wrote her original report. Olafsdottir expressed concern about the consequences of legal restrictions. "Once you have something as a law," she said according to the source, "that takes time to change, and meanwhile it basically diminishes LGBTQ+ people." Despite their personal views on recent legislation, the filmmakers engaged with both supporters and opponents of Nebraska's 2023 gender-care bill during filming. Muska recalled that initial Nebraska trips for the original documentary were undertaken with little planning. "Nobody was ever hostile. In general, everyone was hospitable," Olafsdottir said of their reception while documenting Teena's story three decades ago. ## Sources - [Flatwater Free Press](https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-documentary-brought-brandon-teenas-murder-to-a-national-audience-its-makers-are-working-on-a-sequel/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Flatwater Free Press, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-documentary-brought-brandon-teenas-murder-to-a-national-audience-its-makers-are-working-on-a-sequel/.