Queendom

“Queendom” is both a powerful portrait of a queer artist as well as a sly call to arms. By extension, it also serves as an example of how one and the other aren’t so easily uncoupled.

The intent is not just to shock or provoke (although there’s plenty of that) but to force open a crack of liberating oddity in a paranoid lockstep society.

Galdanova and cinematographer Ruslan Fedotov give Jenna marvelous closeups, highlighting the nuances of her performance, the articulate lines of makeup, and intricate costume designs for a dazzling effect.

A devastating, urgent reminder that art can be dangerous and important and political and powerful — especially in ten-inch heels.

To call Gena a drag artist fails to capture just how subversive and courageous are her public “performances”.

[Gena Marvin] is an inspirational figure in a slightly scattergun documentary from the film-maker Agniia Galdanova that spends far too much time analysing why Marvin’s traditionalist Russian grandfather finds drag a bit off-putting.

A compelling LGBTQ+ documentary shot over a period of 4 years.

The scenes of performance art executed on the shore of a raging sea or in a muddy quarry pit are breathtaking in composition and framing, and made all the more alluring by Gena’s keen sense of presentation and otherworldly personas.

Queendom... is at once a call to action for political activism and a universalizing document of a once-in-a-lifetime artist of distinct ability.

The film, while somewhat meandering in its episodic structure, illustrates the risks that Gena takes daily while sharing her art