Queendom review: No country for drag

For 21-year-old queer performance artist and activist Gena Marvin, her costumes and creations are somehow her only way to process grief, trauma and shame. In Agniia Galdanova’s debut documentary Queendom that premiered at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival 2023, Gena transforms into her beautifully provocative creations made out of tape and junk, and presents herself in front of the alarmingly hostile and conservative Russian public. (Also read: Twice Colonized review: Aaju Peter’s life and activism shapes timely documentary)

Queendom introduces Gena walking across the frozen landscapes of Russia in a white fur coat, her face and hands painted white, paired with black gloves and matching high heels. At the local grocery store, her presence immediately triggers the public attention and soon enough the security guards ask her to exit. The reason? “Your lingerie’s showing… there’re little kids here.”

This defiance comes from the agonizing need of Gena to express herself as an artist in a country that has criminalized LGBTQ+ activities as “propaganda” and is preparing for war. Back home in the small town of Magadan, she is clearly loved by her grandparents (who still call her by her male birth name Gennadiy) but no matter how much Gena tries, they will never be able to accept her wholly. She’s constantly reminded to prioritize her education and leave aside these costumes that aren’t fetching her any money.

Trouble arrives when Gena takes to the protests in the streets covered in tape that resembles the Russian flag, as the violence erupts suddenly and dangerously, injuring many peaceful protestors opposing the horrific war. She’s aware that her participation might trigger consequences for her at college where she studies fashion, yet she doesn’t know how to stay silent and do nothing. Yet this one incident affects her in more ways than one, as Gena is expelled from her course within a few days of the complaint.

Galdanova’s lens, carefully orchestrated by cinematographer Ruslan Fedotov, follows her fascinating subject closely, yet there’s always a careful distance between the context of the film’s understanding of personal space and overarching political context. We only know as much as Gena wants us to know, and through her, Queendom builds its perception of radical activism in Putin’s Russia with steady control. Vlad Fishez’s editing here is key to unpack Gena’s inner universe, as her situations grow harsher and harsher with time, cutting to shots of her unwinding the sheer magnitude of claustrophobia and exhaustion through her costumes.

Queendom progresses with the burden of unspeakable fear and discrimination that gradually takes a toll on Gena. Those moments of activism in her beautifully provocative drag are her only escape to a certain sense of agency and power, but that comes at the cost of everything in her life. There are brief moments of joy too, when Gena dazzles through a runway and earns the kindest words from the designer that makes her cry. But that doesn’t really change her situation overnight. (Her runway career is curiously left unexplored.) She also celebrates her birthday with her friends, and revels in the comfort of queer solidarity. Yet at the end, she’s still stranded all by herself, gathering her desires along with her fears and unbridgeable loneliness. Still she must face the challenge- one creation at a time. What more will it take away from her, is the question Queendom asks in response. Where does Gena belong, if not in her home country? Who can she call her own? What are her options, if not to flee?

The searing power of Queendom is driven from the way Galdanova’s lens channels Gena not as an anomaly to reflect the horrific political scenario of her country. She is answerable as a human being first, as someone who aspires to be seen, loved and understood. The personal transforms into the political subtext- her experiences are enough to gather how. It is certainly not a question of being brave. Gena might not know the answers to a lot of questions but all she desires is to walk down a busy street unafraid: strutting in her platform heels, embracing herself to her fullest.