Perry's Flix Pix: QDoc Movie (P)reviews part I

QDoc is happening! June 3rd-6th

Everybody knows I’m a huge film fan. The Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls In Love gave me my first pseudo-butch role model, while the Celluloid Closet taught me to see film and culture differently. There was no way I would have ever become the fabulous queer you see showboating around nightclubs, street corners and dark alleyways without the profoundly formative films I consumed in my youth.  I even came out to my mother after spending the day watching Jeffrey and The Birdcage back in 1996. (She didn’t take it so well. I wish she were a bit more like Nathan Lane!) Things also really changed when I discovered Bruce LaBruce, Fatih Akin, Todd Haynes, John Waters…

So I’m especially excited whenever I get the chance to review movies for qPDX, and even more excited to review films that belong to one of my favourite genres – documentaries! QDoc, the Queer Documentary Festival, is almost here, and we’ve been keeping busy previewing all of the QDoc movies coming to the Clinton St Theater. Drag culture is a strong theme amongst the festival picks, and we’re excited to tell you about some of the gems we’ve been watching.

A Drag King Extravaganza

A DRAG KING EXTRAVAGANZA directed by Meaghan Derynck and Clare Smyth
This documentary, chronicling the establishment of the International Drag KingCommunity Extravaganza (IDKE) is the focus of my first QDoc movie preview. A DRAG KING EXTRAVAGANZA takes us back to the beginnings of Drag King performance in the US, introducing us to some of the early Drag Kings performing across the US. EXTRAVAGANZA is not a drag how-to, but instead focuses on the community aspect of drag shows. A large part of EXTRAVAGANZA addresses how drag king culture can and should interact with issues of race, class, and sexism, and it’s a refreshingly thoughtful take on how performing masculinity comes with its own set of responsibilities. I applaud the movie for taking narrative risks and trying to integrate Drag Kinging into the larger issues of queer struggle, along with showing Drag Kings that are not on the Club Confidential/NY/SF circuit, however the movie’s focus often wavers and it ends up covering too much ground. Focusing on several individuals instead of trying to portray a whole community, spending more time on tracing their trajectory and showing us what they do now would have been a nice treat. A good movie for those interested in the history of Drag King Culture, and I believe I spotted local heroes Jodi Bon Jodi and Max Voltage on stage!

Forever's gonna start tonight

FOREVER’S GONNA START TONIGHT directed by Michelle Lawler
My favourite QDoc movie so far! Vicki Marlane, the star of “FOREVER”, is the lady with the liquid spine, still performing at Aunt Charlie’s in San Francisco, and, at 74, she’s the oldest living drag queen still on stage. Vicki Marlane started in “the business” early, and throughout her unique life she suffered many highs and lows, including being sent to prison for wearing women’s clothes in public (she promptly broke out), getting her jaw broken in a homophobic /transphobic attack, becoming one of the biggest drag stars in the country, dealing with the loss of lovers, physically transitioning, health issues, alcoholism and drug abuse. She never lost her pluckyness, however, and her unique take on life, drag, and performing at Aunt Charlie’s shows her to be a real gem. The movie is well paced and smoothly shot, and features historical documents and rare archival footage of the US drag scene from the 1950’s until today. Vicki’s compelling honesty an and the powerful narrative that is at the heart of this documentary really blew me away. Lawler’s film is never tearjerky or exploitative, but instead captures Vicki Marlane’s unique, gutsy spirit. FOREVER is the funny, touching, camp, and moving story of an all around fiesty lady. At 74, Vicki still performs twice a week at Aunt Charlie’s. An absolute must see! Vicki will be in attendance at the QDoc Movie Screening of “Forever’s gonna start tonight” so don’t miss this chance to meet her.

Storme Delarverie - The Lady of the Jewel Box

Storme Delarverie: The Lady Of The  Jewel Box by Michelle Parkerson
This short (21 minutes) documentary, shot in 1987, continues the theme of both drag and tradition. The main focus of “The Lady” is the long and illustrious career of Storme Delarverie, arguably the first “modern” Drag King to grace popular stages in the US. Now 89, Storme was hired to be a “male impersonator” next to some of the first drag queens at shows across the country. Through interviews and archival footage director Michelle Parkerson re-tells the story of Storme, who has a long and interesting story to tell, yet this portrayal is ultimately very dated and rather superficial. I wish the movie had explored the radical connotations of being a gender-crossing performer of mixed race on stage in a time when racial segregation was still very much in everyone’s mind.
Recommended for hard-core drag enthusiasts, but otherwise pales in comparison to the other drag documentaries shown at QDoc.