Underneath the Sequence, Rage: a History of Drag (2025)

My Name Is Violeta

Violeta leads a normal life in a well-off family, with loving parents, surrounded by everything the heart of an eleven-year-old girl might wish for. But she hasn’t always been the pretty girl she is today; she was born a boy. At age 6, she baffled her parents (the famous adult movie stars Nacho Vidal and Franceska Jaimes) when she told them she wanted to be called and dress as a girl. After the initial shock, they decided to give her all their support on the long and tough road that will lead to her becoming a woman someday. Violeta faces many challenges, medical (such as deciding whether or not to take hormone-blockers to stop the development of masculine features as soon as puberty kicks in) and legal (obtaining an ID card with her new name and gender). Later, she may consider getting a sex reassignment procedure, or the possibility of becoming a mother through adoption.

Family Album

Through archive footage and images as well as interviews, the movie paints the portrait of a legendary trans womens' rights activist in Argentina. Like a family album to flip through, the narrative charts the ties solidarity and mutual aid create between people of the LGBTQI+ community and the long road to make the personal political, during the brutal 1980s in latin America.

Paris Is Burning

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

The Queens

This documentary chronicles over two years in the heels of four of the world’s most famous drag queens including former RuPaul’s Drag Race winners Jinkx Monsoon and Sharon Needles, former All Stars champion Alaska Thunderf*ck and season 7 and All Stars 2 contestant Katya Zamolodchikova. From performing across world stages to winning (and losing) Drag Race or dealing with major tragedies, The Queens lifts the lace front, giving an insight into one of the most fascinating and quickly ascending entertainment artforms.

Sultana's Reign

Sultana of New York is a Palestinian drag queen, performer, and artist. "Sultana’s Rein" opens with a conversation with Sultana, as she is being painted by Jordanian artist, RIDIKKULUZ. Reflecting on her journey from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, to then New York, Sultana tells of the challenges of performing drag in conservative societies, her nostalgia for the glory days and the glamour of Egyptian cinema icons, and her struggle to prove her existence and her self-expression as a performer and artist. She also shares her love of celebration and her everlasting commitment to be true to herself.

The Times of Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was an outspoken human rights activist and one of the first openly gay U.S. politicians elected to public office; even after his assassination in 1978, he continues to inspire disenfranchised people around the world.

Stonewall

A group of gay friends try to live with dignity and self-respect while events build to the opening battle in the major gay rights movement.

Political Bodies

At a time when the far right is ascending to power around the world, the 2020 Brazilian municipal elections saw a surprising and unprecedented record of LGBT candidates. This film follows four young queer politicians during their electoral campaigns and reveals their struggle to affirm their rights to exist and be heard.

Serving in Secret: Love, Country, and Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Tracing the U.S. military's long history of discrimination against the gay community and one couple's personal journey for acceptance.

AYOR

In 1970, during the annual Dutch national commemoration of those fallen in World War II, two men try to make a statement against gay discrimination. In the moments before and after the incident, their doubt, fear and firm belief becomes clear.

The Queen

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.

Georgie Girl

In 1999, the largely conservative Wairarapa district in New Zealand elected a former cabaret performer/actress named Georgina Beyer to the country's House of Parliament -- a seemingly unremarkable event in that country's history except for the fact that Beyer is a transsexual and may very well be the first transsexual in the world to be elected to a national office. In their 2002 biographical documentary Georgie Girl, co-directors Peter Wells and Annie Goldson highlight the popular Member of Parliament's rapid rise through local government to prominence in the New Zealand national government.

Crazy Horse, Paris with Dita Von Teese

The Crazy Horse cabaret has been a Parisian night hotspot since 1951. The cabaret is known for celebrating the beauty, personality and pure talent of its female dancers. Since opening, the Crazy Horse has captivated the imagination of more than six million spectators, including many celebrities, with its stunning sexy shows. Since 2001, the Crazy Horse shows are also performed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. In February 2009, Dita Von Teese, the uber glamorous icon and international striptease diva, was the first guest star to appear in a Crazy Horse show. This DVD showcases the full show including three of Dita’s sensual numbers.

The Josephine Baker Story

Biography of the African-American who became a major performer in the Paris cabarets of the 1920s and 1930s. The film follows her life beginning as a struggling performer in 1917 St. Louis, her frustrations leading to her move to France, and follows to her death in 1975. Written by John Sacksteder

Trans & Pregnant

Two men undertake a thought-provoking journey to parenthood. Not by adoption or surrogacy, but by Frankie, a trans man, carrying their baby. Made with support from NZ on Air.

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP

United in Anger: A History of ACT UP is an inspiring documentary about the birth and life of the AIDS activist movement from the perspective of the people in the trenches fighting the epidemic. Utilizing oral histories of members of ACT UP, as well as rare archival footage, the film depicts the efforts of ACT UP as it battles corporate greed, social indifference, and government negligence.

Drag Becomes Him

An intimate glimpse inside the life of internationally acclaimed drag performer Jinkx Monsoon.

Cured

Mentally ill. Deviant. Diseased. And in need of a cure. These were among the terms psychiatrists used to describe gay women and men in the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. And as long as they were “sick”, progress toward equality was impossible. This documentary chronicles the battle waged by a small group of activists who declared war against a formidable institution – and won a crucial victory in the modern movement for LGBTQIA+ equality.

MEMORY-LIKE: An Oral History of QueerFest

The documentary focuses on the story of QueerFest, the first and only LGBTI+ film festival in Turkey, which has been organized in Ankara since 2011. Through interviews with the founders of QueerFest, volunteers and staff who have contributed to the festival, the 14-year journey of the festival and the culture and arts landscape shaped by Turkey's political climate are told. QueerFest's self-organizational connection with the Pink Life Association, its connection with the “lubunya” (queer community) of Ankara and the cultural capital it inherited from there, is transformed into a powerful political voice by developing the practice of mobilizing through art. Since 2017, the festival has continued its resistance against the bans and heavy censorship obstacles every year and opens a space for many queer people living in Turkey who are interested in the field of culture and art and want to produce in this sphere.

Bambi

Bambi was born Jean-Pierre Pruvot in a tiny Algerian village in 1935. Even as a child, she refused to meet the expectations of her extended family, choosing instead to find a way to become the woman she always knew herself to be. A Cabaret Carrousel de Paris performance in Algiers in the 1950s proved to be all the encouragement she needed to emigrate to the French capital, assume the stage name of ‘Bambi’ and lead the life she longed for on the music-hall stages.

Cherry Valentine: Gypsy Queen and Proud

At 18, George Ward left the Gypsy community. He had felt rejected having come out as gay. Leaving his Gypsy identity behind, he invented Cherry Valentine, a drag alter-ego. Now he wants to find out if he can be accepted as a queer Gypsy and feel proud.

This Is Drag

An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at performance, glamor, fame, family, love and sacrifice as some of the world's most renowned drag queens come together for World Pride in Toronto.

Superstar in a Housedress: The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis

Andy Warhol described Jackie Curtis as “A pioneer without a frontier.” In this biographical documentary, Curtis’s co-workers and friends speak of her work and her influence, along with clips from Curtis’s Warhol films as well as never-before-seen footage from her stage shows.

Verbotene Liebe - Queere Opfer der NS-Diktatur

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.

A Queer City

A documentary following three young nascent drag artists as they navigate a rising queer scene in Norwich City - a place wherein they express their queerness and identities freely through performance, visual artistry, and community.

Our Dad, Danielle

The extraordinary story of a world-renowned patent attorney in Sugar Land, Texas who, at 57, came out as a trans woman and is now navigating LGBTQ+ issues and fighting for trans rights in the vortex of Texas conservatism, as she and her family challenge the idea of what modern love looks like.

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution

From the sweaty basement bars of 70s New York to the glittering peak of the global charts, how disco conquered the world - its origins, its triumphs, its fall and its legacy.

The Life and Death of Lily Savage

Intimate documentary exploring how Paul O'Grady's creation, Lily Savage, took mainstream TV by storm. Unravel the real story of Lily with insights from Paul's daughter and famous pals.

Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives

Ten women in Canada talk about being lesbian in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s: discovering the pulp fiction of the day about women in love, their own first affairs, the pain of breaking up, frequenting gay bars, facing police raids, men's responses, and the etiquette of butch and femme roles. Interspersed among the interviews and archival footage are four dramatized chapters from a pulp novel, "Forbidden Love".

Lesbiennes, quelle histoire ?

From her personal experience, Marie Labory sets out on the trail of the lesbians who lived in Europe in the twentieth century. One hundred years of fighting for freedom, told through archives and testimonies.

Beauties of the Night

What happened to those vedettes who represented the mexican cabaret’s exotic beauty in the ‘70s and ‘80s? Four decades after the end of their roles, they tell their stories with dignity.

Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts

Trixie charmed audiences and judges as winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. But the grind of performing and the pressure of the title proves that heavy is the head that wears the tiara.

Burlesque

Student documentary exploring the world of burlesque as a space for artistic expression and personal liberation, where performers channel their creativity and sensuality. Through their voices, they speak about the power of the stage to reconnect with their bodies and establish a deep connection with the audience. Burlesque is presented as a feminist, inclusive, and supportive environment, celebrating gender and body diversity. The action takes place at the Wiggle Room, located in Montreal. It is the only burlesque cabaret in Canada, known for its warm atmosphere and strong sense of community.

Lesbians of Buenos Aires

This documentary tells the tale of Buenos Aires lesbians, focusing on three personal stories. A former militant woman who now devotes her time to feminine soccer; a young woman who is active so no girl has to go through what she went through and a lesbian mother who recounts how hostile the laws are regarding the rights of lesbian women. In spite of the difficulties their characters go through, the stories have a lot of humour, some soccer and a tour of the city.

Oscar

Oscar©, a powerful exploration of the life and writings of literary legend, Oscar Wilde. A spectacular new full-length ballet by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon In a celebration of the beauty and complexity of love in all its forms, Oscar© brings queer romance to life through Wheeldon’s innovative and heart-stirring choreography. Oscar© journeys through the extraordinary life of Wilde – a man who dared to live and write with unapologetic boldness – while masterfully integrating two of Wilde’s best-known works, The Nightingale and the Rose and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Art and Pep

Art Johnston and Pepe Peña are civil rights leaders whose life and love is a force behind LGBTQ+ equality in the heart of the country. Their iconic gay bar, Sidetrack, has helped fuel movements and create community for decades in Chicago's queer enclave. But, behind the business and their historic activism exists a love unlike any other.

Dragphoria

Dragphoria is a short film about drag and identity, finding yourself in a noisy crowd, and slowly accepting yourself after a long-awaited denial.

Queen of New York

Welcome to a different kind of drag race! As NYC emerges from the chaos of 2020, Marti Cummings (they/them), an audacious and big-hearted drag queen, goes all out in a historic bid to become a City Councilperson. It’s one of the most hotly contested Council races in years, and Marti’s strongest competitor is Shaun Abreu, a tenants’ lawyer with deep roots in the district’s Latinx community. As these first-timers race to do the most good for their Upper Manhattan neighbors, they offer very different visions for Democratic politics – one in a suit and tie, the other in combat boots and floral print. As this immersive documentary reveals, Marti’s passion inspires queer activists and allies to change the political system. Their campaign becomes a community of its own, especially for Marti’s non-binary peers who have never before seen themselves represented.

Victorian Queens

Victorian Queens takes a deep dive into the weird, wonderful and utterly unique landscape of Melbourne's drag community.

All That Drag

Deepening into the contemporary Brazilian drag scene, "All That Drag" answers many questions about a little known story. The film investigates this artistic expression and the freedom it represents through five drag artists.

Country Queer

Benoît built his paradise hidden from view, emancipated in his own way, resolved to face the constraints of a space which, in imaginations, conflicts with his identity. The countryside. One day, he and other queers from the area decide to organize the first Pride of the Périgord vert, because it is time to come out, to take up space to celebrate, heal, and finally open a path.

Boys Will Be Girls

For these lipstick Cinderella's, balls are a real drag. With their duct tape D-Cups, these torch songbirds crown the drag queen within. From dudes to divas, these boys will be girls.

The Beyoncé Experience

Aaron Carty gave up a career as a police officer to live his dream of becoming a positive role model for the black queer community as a Beyoncé drag act. This short documentary follows Aaron’s struggle in running a media agency full time, producing and performing The Beyoncé Experience and still finding time to volunteer for a controversial movement with UK Black Pride.

Letter Beyond the Walls

Letter Beyond the Walls reconstructs the trajectory of HIV and AIDS with a focus on Brazil, through interviews with doctors, activists, patients and other actors, in addition to extensive archival material. From the initial panic to awareness campaigns, passing through the stigma imposed on people living with HIV, the documentary shows how society faced this epidemic in its deadliest phase over more than two decades. With this historical approach as its base, the film looks at the way HIV is viewed in today's society, revealing a picture of persistent misinformation and prejudice, which especially affects Brazil’s most historically vulnerable populations.

Drag Kids

Four precocious preteens perfect their lip-synching and runway walks in anticipation of the biggest drag performance of their lives at Montreal Pride, in this fierce and joyous celebration of acceptance and self-discovery.

Cabaret Girl

This ultra-kitsch documentary goes behind the scenes at Murray's Cabaret Club, where Christine Keeler was later a showgirl.

Que sirva de ejemplo

What is heteronormativity, what does it mean for men and women, what is the cultural canon, does culture reflect or does culture construct? We reflect on all this by putting in dialogue ten people who, from different fields of culture, have thought about this.

Gay and Proud

1970 short documentary covering the first New York gay pride parade celebrating one year after Stonewall.

La Mami

One of the rooms inside the legendary Barba Azul Cabaret has become a shelter for the girls working there: the women's bathroom. Every night La Mami, who's in charge of the bathrooms, offers them the warmth and the advice they need to take on the challenge they face in the dance hall.

Trans

Trans is a 1982 Venezuelan documentary short film that offers an intimate look into the lives of a group of trans women and drag performers in Caracas, exploring their experiences in a society marked by transphobia and homophobia. Through interviews and performances, the documentary highlights the resilience and dignity of these women in the face of widespread discrimination and violence. Premiering at the Venezuelan National Cinematheque in 1982, Trans is considered a pioneering work in the representation of the trans community in Latin American cinema.

Tara Byte

Tara Byte is a documentary short that explores the art and performance of the eclectic Soren Liu (He/They) while illuminating the interplay between art and identity, showcasing the dynamic intersection where Liu's creativity and self-expression converge.

The Contestant

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.

Forever Crazy

Crazy Horse Paris' international tour started in late 2009 and continues to galvanize audiences around the world. As a tribute to its founder and a 60 years celebration, the legendary cabaret showcases the best acts from its repertoire.

Siamo qui

Activists of the LGBTQ+ association Rain Arcigay Caserta come back living in a property given to them in concession, confiscated from the Camorra in Castel Volturno. The goal is to reconnect with the local inhabitants and propose a new idea of ​​sharing and regenerating the park.

Seconda Repubblica - Il Meglio di Recital

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Chimera

A non-binary folk watches the handover of the first non-binary ID in the history of Chile. As they try to do the paperwork, they will face the bureaucracy of the legal proceeding.