By Hook or by Crook(2002)

Name: By Hook or by Crook
Director: Harry Dodge
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Released: Oct 25, 2002
Cast: Silas Howard, Harry Dodge, Stanya Kahn, Carina Gia, James Cotner

Altered Innocence

1h 38m

Release Date: Oct 25, 2002 | Limited

A gender-bending small-town dreamer with a quiet messiah complex heads to San Francisco after the death of his father to lose himself in a life of petty crime. He instead collides with an expressive, fast-talking adoptee searching for his birth mother, and the two trans-butch grifters drift through the city's margins, in a buddy story about friendship, identity, survival, and the family you find when no one else is looking.

Releases

Original Release | Oct 25, 2002

2026 Re-release | Jun 12, 2026

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Current Showtimes

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Tue Jun 16
Wed Jun 17
Thu Jun 18
Fri Jun 19

Director & Top Cast

Harry Dodge
Director

Silas Howard
Director

Silas Howard
Shy

Harry Dodge
Valentine

Stanya Kahn
Billie

Carina Gia
Isabelle

James Cotner

Attacker

Joan Jett

News Interviewee

Kris Kovick

Crazy Nut in Park

Maia Lorian

Parasol Girl

Tina Marie Murray

Ms. Red

Aldo Pisano

Driver

Nancy Stone

Waitress

Victoria De Mare

Shy

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Stereo

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

By Hook or by Crook is a 2001 American buddy drama written, directed by, and starring Harry Dodge and Silas Howard, with Stanya Kahn as co-writer and co-star. The film follows Shy (Howard), a small-town trans man from Kansas, and Valentine (Dodge), an expressive adoptee searching for his birth mother, who become best friends and partners in petty crime across the margins of San Francisco. Stanya Kahn plays Val's lover, Billie, with appearances by Joan Jett as a news interviewee. Cinematography is by Ann T. Rossetti, with a score by Carla Bozulich of the Geraldine Fibbers. The film premiered at the Frameline Film Festival in 2001 and screened at Sundance in 2002, winning Audience Awards at SXSW and Outfest, and the Best Screenplay Award at Outfest. It is widely credited with anticipating the trans and genderqueer cinema explosion by 15 years. In 2026, distributor Altered Innocence is presenting the film in a new 4K restoration across US arthouse cinemas, including June Pride Month screenings at venues such as Roxie (San Francisco), The Brattle (Boston), and Northwest Film Forum (Seattle). It is suited to viewers of independent queer cinema.