Queendom

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.

I would have liked to hear more about Gena’s late mother and the family history generally, but this is an arresting portrait.

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