From transvestites to transformers, we will follow the trail that will lead us in different and famous Parisian music-halls, such as the mythical Alcazar of Paris, La Grande Eugène. Whether they are below or beyond their character, often these men who are looking for themselves look at life with the humor of despair. Why this need to "transform" themselves? Why is it always the men who cross-dress and not the women? Why did the public flock to these shows in the 1970s and 1980s? Interpretations of famous characters such as Diana Ross, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, the Peter Sisters, the Andrew Sisters, Zizi Jeanmaire, Judy Garland, Sarah Bernhardt, among others, contribute to making this musical document an essential testimony of this era.
Dean Johnson, drag queen, rock star, LGBTQI activist, junkie, genius, escort then John Doe. How does someone so famous in New York die as an unknown in DC? This documentary explores the incredible highs and the crushing lows of Dean Johnson’s life and untimely death. Was it murder? Was it an accident? We may never know, but what is certain is that Dean and “the Big Johnson” changed New York City and all who knew him forever.
A student, initially serving as a director, filmed his LGBTQ+ teacher but eventually became personally involved in drag. What began as an observer's stance transformed into active participation in drag. Through self-engagement in drag, the director assumed the identity of Rachel and seized an opportunity for a dialogue with self-identity. This experience led to an awareness of the conflicting dialectics between societal frameworks and personal identity. The director embarked on multiple attempts to coexist with and showcase the multifaceted aspects of the transformed, drag persona.
A documentary profile of Lester Brodzik and his alter ego Lestushka
The rise and fall of the biggest star of travesty show in Prague in the nineties. The film tells the story of a man with shocking sincerity and openness in confession of two different personalities, woman and man living in one body.
Star of stage and screen Alaska Thunderfuck proudly presents "Alaska's Extra Special Comedy Special." Featuring some of Alaska's greatest musical hits, exciting special guests, and a series of comedic jokes.
Mulheres de Barba Rija
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.
In Córdoba, far from the Argentine capital, the end of a military regime promises a spring that is all too brief. “La Delpi” is the only survivor of a group of friends who are transgender women and drag-queens, who began to die of aids in the late 80s. In a Catholic and conservative city, the Grupo Kalas made their weapons and trenches out of improvised dresses and lip-syncing. Today the images of unique and unknown footage are not only a farewell letter, but a manifesto to friendship.
Bruno, a 26 year old man starts to enter the Drag culture in Oporto in 2015. Initially he's rejected multiple times in various show rooms for being "way too gay". After two years the name Camel Toe is now famous because of his excentric personality wich gives him a voice when it comes to the defence of all kinds of artistic expression and in the fight against prejudice. Camel Toe comes to chock, through his irreverence, the city of Oporto and to tell us the story of his life as a metaphore for the revenge of an whole comunity in the contemporary days.
A close look at what really means to be part of Haus of Fraimpark, an alternative drag family in Panama City. Daughters and Nieces of Miss Veneno Fraimpark share their experience in belonging to one of Panama's most acclaimed drag houses.
Discover Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (The Trocks), an all-male company that for 45 years has offered audiences their passion for ballet classics mixed with exuberant comedy. With every step they poke fun at their strictly gendered art form.
Avant-Drag! paints portraits of ten drag artists of varying gender expressions and sexualities who take to the streets of Athens to query, problematise and (yes, please!) undermine social strictures. Employing wildly imagined personas – like riot housewives and Albanian turbo-folk girls – who perform acts as revolutionary as praising abortion and as charming as drawing childish pictures, these artists call for social justice by taking aim at conservatism, patriarchy, patriotism, racism and sexism.
Legendary drag performer Ocaña in performance with a cardboard Marilyn on the west side of the Berlin Wall.
A documentary short film capturing the world of The Creatures of the Night, an up and coming group of alternative drag artists in the Coachella Valley.
The film tells the story of the LGBTQIAP+ scene in Teresina and works as a rescue of street culture. In all, ten characters tell their stories through the screen , building the web that leads to a marginal and parallel reality. A rescue that comes from the 80s, through names like Samantha Menina, Monique Santos and many other important figures in this process.
“It ain’t easy…being green” is the favorite expression of Stormé DeLarverie, a woman whose life flouted prescriptions of gender and race. During the 1950s and '60s she toured the black theater circuit as a mistress of ceremonies and the sole male impersonator of the legendary Jewel Box Revue, America’s first integrated female impersonation show and forerunner of La Cage aux Folles.
F, an 18-year-old boy, immerses himself in the world of the Drag Queen where he begins to build his identity despite family and social mandates, which impose on him to be afraid and ashamed of being who he is.
Documentary about behind the scenes of Pabllo Vittar's highly anticipated show at the first edition of The Town, in São Paulo.
In May 2016, Christopher Caldwell - better known as Bob The Drag Queen, won the incredibly popular TV show "RuPaul's Drag Race". This documentary covers both his life and career before, during and after the show as well as a comedy special he did in June 2016.