The Queen

Jun 17, 1968

1h 8m

★ 6.2

A vibrant piece of queer history.

Overview

In 1967, New York City is host to the Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant. This documentary takes a look behind the scenes, transporting the viewer into rehearsals and dressing rooms as the drag queen subculture prepares for this big national beauty contest. Jack/Sabrina is the mistress of ceremonies, and their protégé, Miss Harlow, is in the competition. But, as the pageant approaches, the glamorous contestants veer from camaraderie to tension.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

Vineyard Film

MDH

Si Litvinoff Film Production

The Queen Trailers

Cast

Flawless Sabrina

Jack Doroshow

Interviewer

Bernard Giquel

Self - Singer

Mario Montez

Self - Competitor

Crystal LaBeija

Self - Competitor

Rachel Harlow

Self - Jury Member

Andy Warhol

Self - Jury Member

Edie Sedgwick

Self - Jury Member

Jim Dine

Self - Jury Member

Bruce Jay Friedman

Self - Jury Member

Larry Rivers

Self - Jury Member

Terry Southern

Self - Jury Member

Jerry Leiber

In Córdoba, far from the Argentine capital, the end of a military regime promises a spring that is all too brief. “La Delpi” is the only survivor of a group of friends who are transgender women and drag-queens, who began to die of aids in the late 80s. In a Catholic and conservative city, the Grupo Kalas made their weapons and trenches out of improvised dresses and lip-syncing. Today the images of unique and unknown footage are not only a farewell letter, but a manifesto to friendship.

0.0

With Me They Can't

Oct 23, 2022

The film tells the story of the LGBTQIAP+ scene in Teresina and works as a rescue of street culture. In all, ten characters tell their stories through the screen , building the web that leads to a marginal and parallel reality. A rescue that comes from the 80s, through names like Samantha Menina, Monique Santos and many other important figures in this process.

6.0

Lesvia

Apr 1, 2025

Since the 1970s, lesbians from around the world have been drawn to the island of Lesvos, the birthplace of the ancient Greek poet Sappho. When they find paradise in a local village and carve out their own queer lesbian community, tensions simmer with the local residents. With both groups claiming ownership of lesbian identity, filmmaker Tzeli Hadjidimitriou—a native and lesbian herself—is caught in the middle and chronicles 40+ years of love, community, conflict, and what it means to feel accepted.

3.0

Lady Like

Sep 6, 2024

In this rags to riches origin story, Lady Camden struggles to manage the demands of her freshly minted international fame, while Rex is forced to come to terms with the troubling childhood he left behind in Camden which drove him to so desperately seek joy, fantasy and escape through the performing arts.

4.0

Stormé: Lady of the Jewel Box

May 7, 1991

“It ain’t easy…being green” is the favorite expression of Stormé DeLarverie, a woman whose life flouted prescriptions of gender and race. During the 1950s and '60s she toured the black theater circuit as a mistress of ceremonies and the sole male impersonator of the legendary Jewel Box Revue, America’s first integrated female impersonation show and forerunner of La Cage aux Folles.

0.0

Verbotene Liebe - Queere Opfer der NS-Diktatur

Jan 16, 2024

Sexual minorities were oppressed, imprisoned and murdered by the Nazis. Paragraph 175 criminalized homosexual men during the Nazi era – but the Nazis also discriminated against lesbians and trans people. They should be excluded from the national community. More than 50,000 queer people have been proven to have been persecuted. The documentary highlights three poignant fates in the context of Nazi terror.

9.5

Ballerina Boys

Jun 4, 2021

Discover Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (The Trocks), an all-male company that for 45 years has offered audiences their passion for ballet classics mixed with exuberant comedy. With every step they poke fun at their strictly gendered art form.

0.0

Kween For A Day

Jan 15, 2020

Baltimore-based drag queen Shaunda Leer (Scott Murdock) discusses why she's chosen to perform in drag for over ten years. She also recounts several stories about her family relationships and concerns about her physical safety as a member of the GLBTIQ community.

6.7

Miss Italia Mustn't Die

Feb 26, 2025

Behind the glitz of Miss Italia, director Patrizia Mirigliani fights to save the iconic pageant, now wavering amid scandals and changing beauty standards.

4.0

Crowned Species

Apr 12, 2013

A journalistic investigation, built not on rumors and assumptions, but on direct evidence, revealing the true mechanisms of podium coronations. Hidden camera footage of negotiations with the owners of the largest national beauty contests and an attempt to answer the question of why these people are not yet in prison. Famous people on the jury are not a guarantee of fair judging. Irrefutable evidence of the corruption of the so-called “stars” who elect the next Miss and Mrs. The collection and subsequent theft of funds for charity is a side business of the owners of fraudulent shows. What actually awaits the titled Misses after purchasing the prize? And what do children's beauty pageants turn out to be like for young participants?

8.0

The Flight of Paloma

Jul 1, 2023

A short film narrated by the drag queen Paloma, in interview with the filmmaker.

0.0

Legendary

Aug 27, 2020

An inside look into the effort to preserve Philadelphia's ballroom scene, a black LGBTQ safe-space that has endured for 30 years.

5.0

Steelers: The World's First Gay Rugby Club

Mar 22, 2020

Told through the eyes of an Australian news reporter, Eammon Ashton-Atkinson, who moved to the UK to escape depression, the documentary, follows 3 characters on their journey to overcome their struggles as the club competes against 60 other gay clubs in the Bingham Cup in Amsterdam – the World Cup of gay rugby.

5.5

Wigstock: The Movie

Jun 9, 1995

The three-decade-old annual Manhattan gathering of drag queens and their fans is portrayed in this colorful documentary. The film concentrates on the spectacle of the event, providing abundant examples of the elaborate costumes, flamboyant wigs, and campy musical performances that characterize the event.

0.0

The Contestant

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Argenis, Yanvaldo, Carlos, Eduardo and Javier have something in common: they will compete in the Miss Gay Venezuela, a trans beauty contest where the man who most resembles a “Miss” wins. For several weeks, we follow them in their preparations for the final night of the contest, seeing how that illusion is built: that of being a beauty queen for one night. The event is the excuse and the ideal setting to find ourselves with wishes, fantasies and the search for a dream come true. They look for the beautiful and feminine to achieve a desire: to be admired and recognized as the most beautiful trans in the contest.

0.0

Becoming Ruby

Apr 30, 2025

Follow Ruby Chopstix, Canada’s first drag artist-in-residence, as they navigate the complexity of being an underrepresented drag performer while creating a special showcase to create space for other queer BIPOC performers.

7.3

Kill Your Idols

Apr 8, 2004

A 2004 documentary on thirty years of alternative rock 'n roll in NYC.Documenting the history from the genuine authenticity of No Wave to the current generation of would be icons and true innovators seeing to represent New York City in the 21st century

5.8

I Am More

Jun 23, 2022

Night falls on the city, and More′s splendid and daring show begins. More, a drag queen at a club in Itaewon, Seoul, is a transgender who wanted to become a ballerina. The audience cheers, but More is fed up with the gig he/she has been doing for 20 years. Around that time, he/she is cast for the "Stonewall Riots 50th Anniversary" performance in New York and finally get a chance to go on stage in toe shoes.

1.0

Christer Lindarw — Ett porträtt

Jan 5, 2023

Portrait documentary of the Swedish drag show pioneer Christer Lindarw and his life both on and off the stage.