‘Queendom’ Documents Russian Drag Performance Artist

In January, the average temperature in the Siberian city of Magadan was 9 degrees Fahrenheit, and its Pacific port was only accessible with the help of icebreakers. It's a cold place measured by temperature and history – in Soviet times, the city served as a transit point to the labor camps. Even today, more than a generation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, stepping out of line, and defying pressures to conform, can lead to hostility or outright violence.

So imagine growing up in a place as a gender non-conforming person who dares to express himself through performance art. That's the truth for Jenna Marvin, the star of the Oscar-shortlisted documentary Queendom. Gina espouses politically charged expression and violates the convention despite the risk of harassment, arrest, or physical assault.

“Knowing where she came from, having a very difficult childhood, and the person she aspired to be and who she became — that's very inspiring to a lot of people,” he notes. Queendom The producer is Igor Miyakotin, who also grew up in Magadan. “Our goal from the beginning [was] So that the queer community can see this movie and tell them that even if you don't fit in or feel like you don't belong, you are He does Fit, you He does belongs to. There is a community for you.

The film shows Jenna in public in costumes that make her look like an alien — her eyebrows and head shaved and covered in white makeup, her lower extremities sealed with duct tape, and her slim, cane-like body elevated on six-inch heels. .

“It doesn't take 30 minutes” to put on such an outfit, says director Agnia Galdanova. “It takes about three, four or five hours. And a lot of friends help with the packing [her] higher. Suddenly, this creature appears… and from there, the magic begins.

Often, Marvin would create performances on the spot while filming COO Ruslan Fedotov—for example, him writhing in a pool of sticky mud.

“We almost never discussed or planned anything she was going to do, or how she was going to move, or anything like that,” Galdanova recalls. “In the mud, it was completely by chance. We found this place and decided to do something. But when she was most ready, it was always her. We would wait when it clicked and then we were ready to pick her up… She had a lot of pain inside and She suffered so much I just saw him come out and it's beautiful at the same time but also full of anxiety and pain.

Other, more mundane moments become tense, as when Jenna—in an outfit with lingerie accents—enters the supermarket. Finally, security approached her and kicked her out, telling her: “You are disturbing the peace. There are children and there are elderly people.” [here]”.

Jenna's house doesn't offer much comfort. The film shows the sometimes contentious relationship between Marvin and the grandparents who raised her. At one point, her grandfather called it a “fuck.” Grandma seems more sympathetic, referring to Jenna as “my weird little person.”

Although conflict regularly flares up between them, it is clear that the grandchildren and grandparents love each other deeply. The grandparents' anxiety stems from fear for Gina's safety, which increases after she moves to Moscow – an eight-hour flight away – to pursue her studies. And continuing to perform publicly despite the risks.

“She says this drag is always political, and it's always exaggerated. It's an exaggeration. It's something that attracts attention. And if you have this platform, you should use it for good,” Miyakotin says. “It was also inevitable that her art would become political in An oppressive and dangerous country like Russia, especially as the laws become more stringent” against the LGBTQ community.

Queendom Documents the growing crackdown on freedom of expression that followed Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. In November 2023, more than a year after the invasion, Russia's Supreme Court ruled that the “international LGBT movement” was an “extremist organization.”

This was in line with the Kremlin's attempt to frame the conflict in Ukraine as a “proxy war… a war with the West, and that gay propaganda is the West's idea to spread their 'corrupt values',” Miakotin explains. According to this fabricated narrative, gay expression represents a threat to Russians, and During his ban, “they protect the Russians this way.”

Queendom The product Myakotin moved to the United States several years ago. Galdanova settled in France, leaving behind her native Russia as it became an increasingly risky place for gay people or perhaps anyone perceived as different.

“I was beaten by two men on a street in the heart of Moscow, right in front of the main police station, because they thought I was a transgender person,” she says. “Also, they were shaming me because I was an Asian person. I was standing there in the street talking on the phone. It wasn't even night. Right after one sentence, I got fisted in the face and then I fell unconscious.”

With Gina's life and freedom also at risk, she was forced to flee Russia and seek asylum in France. For the most part, life in Paris was better for her. However, Galdanova recalls a recent incident in which Marvin appeared in costume among crowds on a Paris street after a soccer match.

“Jenna was smart enough – she prepared her costume with a big belly and a big ass, thinking whether she would get hit or something would at least hit her. [provide protection]”I was filming, and she said to me: No matter what happens, don't interfere,” says Galdanova. I'm ready for anything. Then the anger began to grow very quickly. They started kicking her; They started slapping her. And I was photographing it, and I was looking at it. She was completely out of this world. Someone then stuck a firecracker in her stomach and then pushed her to the ground. “It was terrible.”

“We talk a lot about how dangerous Russia is and how violent it is against gay people or any kind of person,” Galdanova adds. “Honestly, France is definitely safer and more tolerant. But this event showed me that this happens everywhere, as well as in the United States.”

Galdanova and Miyakotin recall a time in Russia, in the years following the collapse of the Soviet empire, when the country moved toward greater acceptance of LGBT people.

“We all thought in the early 2000s that Russia was on a great path, and that was a really happy time for a few years,” Miyakotin says. “There was even a rainbow flag on the cover of a major magazine at the time, and what happened in such a short time is scary. But I feel we have to keep fighting back no matter what.”

He adds: “Queendom It's actually a story for America or other countries as well. When there is democracy, you think it is for the good, but in reality it can easily slip away before your eyes.