Fighting fire, fighting perceptions: new doc on first openly trans member of FDNY

Film about Brooke Guinan -- dubbed "New York's Bravest" -- debuts Tuesday night at Doc NYC

Of all the documentaries premiering at this year's Doc NYC festival, none may be closer to New Yorkers' hearts than Woman on Fire. It is, after all, a film about one of the city's own: firefighter Brooke Guinan.

Guinan is in fact a third-generation firefighter; her father has served in the FDNY for 35 years and her grandfather retired as a captain. Heroism is one of the prerequisites of the job, and plenty of that was necessary for Guinan as she transitioned from male to female, becoming the FDNY's first openly trans firefighter.

Julie Sokolow directed the film, which follows the challenges Guinan faced as a trans person in a macho profession. The challenges didn't end in the workplace -- Guinan also faced them within her own family; and her prominence in a media-saturated city forced her boyfriend to reckon "with the impact of Brooke’s newly public profile on his parents," as the Doc NYC website put it.

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Firefighter Brooke Guinan in a scene from the Julie Sokolow documentary "Woman on Fire." Photo courtesy Doc NYC

The world premiere of Woman on Fire will be held Tuesday at 7:30pm at Cinepolis Chelsea. Director Julie Sokolow and producer Danny Yourd are expected to be joined by Guinan and her father, FDNY Lt. George Guinan, 

The documentary will screen again on Thursday [November 17] at IFC Center.