QUEENDOM

Co-presented as part of Wicked Queer: the Boston LGBT Film Festival with the Boston Underground Film Festival and the Boston Women’s Film Festival

Directed by Agniia Galdanova, documentary, Russian with English subtitles, United States and France, 98 minutes, 2023

Gena, a queer artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes made from junk and tape, and protests the government on the streets of Moscow. Born and raised on the harsh streets of Magadan, a frigid outpost of the Soviet gulag, Gena is only 21. She stages radical performances in public that become a new form of art and activism. By doing that, she wants to change people’s perception of beauty and queerness and bring attention to the harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. The performances—often dark, strange, evocative, and queer at their core—are a manifestation of Gena’s subconscious. But they come at a price. Discussion with producer Igor Myakotin to follow. Q, GD, I, SJ [OC]