A 25-year-old trans-butch indie film is getting a second life. “By Hook or By Crook,” the groundbreaking 2001 debut from filmmakers Silas Howard and Harry Dodge, hits theaters next month in a newly restored 4K version.

The film follows Shy and Valentine, two gender-bending grifters navigating life on society’s margins. It was one of the first successful queer indie films shot on Mini-DV, and it made waves when audiences first saw it at Frameline and Sundance in the early 2000s.

Altered Innocence, the distributor behind “The People’s Joker,” is handling the release. The film opens in New York on June 12 and Los Angeles on June 16, then expands to Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, and more cities throughout the summer.

The restoration comes courtesy of the Academy Film Archive and UCLA Film & Television Archive, with support from Frameline, Outfest, and Sundance Institute. The Guardian called it “one of the best queer films of this century,” and Queerty says it “still feels just as fresh and original today.”

Howard went on to become the first openly trans masculine filmmaker to direct a studio film, helming projects like “Transparent” and “Pose.” Dodge is now a Guggenheim fellow and published author. Producer Steak House earned Emmy nominations for “Queer for Fear.”

For indie creators working on the margins, this one’s a reminder that scrappy, authentic work can endure.