Screenings

Synopsis

Gena Marvin, 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 LGBTIQ+ 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.
QUEENDOM is much as a portrait of an extraordinary artist as it is an indictment of the patriarchal culture of masculinity and violence that pervades Russian society and that views anybody who dares to be different as a provocation and a threat. Agniia Galdanova captures the art and the bravery of her friend in intimate, stunning and altogether fascinating images that draw in their audience. QUEENDOM is fearless filmmaking of extraordinary beauty.

Director

Agniia Galdanova

Biography

Agnija Galdanova is a documentary filmmaker born in St. Petersburg whose work has been supported by Sundance and IDFA. She studied journalism in Moscow and wrote for various publications during her studies before graduating from the MetFilm School in Berlin in 2012 with a degree in film directing. After several music videos and short films, including SOMETHING IN YOU, SOMETHIN IN ME, she made her first feature-length documentary ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK, which premiered at the Message to Man International Film Festival. QUEENDOM, her second feature-length documentary, premiered in the Documentary Competition at the SXSW Film Festival. Her work focuses on complex human relationships told through immersive observational language.

Filmography

Something in You, Something in Me (2017), One Step Forward, One Step Back (2020), Queendom (2023)

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