Art challenges social norms and hard conversations — stunning docfilm QUEENDOM is a breathtaking portrait of creative courage from artist @GenaMarvin

By Oliver Carnay

Jenna Marvin (IG: @genamarvin), the subject of the documentary film QUEENDOM, directed by Agniia Galdanova and producer Igor Myakotin (Welcome to Chechnya), attended the special screening and Q&A (moderated by Viktoria Modesta) on June 16 (Sunday) at the Laemmle Glendale in Los Angeles.  

Born and raised in the harsh street small town of Magadan (a frigid outpost of the Soviet gulag), 21-year old queer artist Jenna Marvin stages radical performances throughout Moscow that become a new form of art and activism in defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ law. Her performances, often dark, strange, evocative, and queer at their core — are a manifestation of Jenna/Gena’s subconscious, but she was forced to leave Russia for fear of her life.

The Russian police continue to harass JENNA MARVIN – a local performance artist – just after her latest anti-government performance in a scene from the award-winning film QUEENDOM – DIRECTED BY AGNIIA GAlDANOVA.  Photo Credit – Greenwich Entertainment

JENNA MARVIN prepares to go out and perform her next art protest performance in Russia in a scene from the award-winning film QUEENDOM – DIRECTED BY AGNIIA GAlDANOVA.  Photo Credit – Greenwich Entertainment

On the streets of Russia, performance artist JENNA MARVIN, begins her piece in the center of the city on a horse in a scene from the award-winning film QUEENDOM – DIRECTED BY AGNIIA GAlDANOVA.  Photo Credit – Greenwich Entertainment
 
The film won the NEXT:WAVE Award at CPH:DOX, also won the Audience Award at Camden International Award, a Special Mention Documentary Feature at last year’s @outfestla and have been nominated at different major film festivals.
 
Director Galdanova cinematically captures these in-your-face staged public performances and her continuous police harassment along with the intimate and personal details of Jenna’s life and her urgent journey to leave her home country of Russia in search of a safer place.  Jenna stages dangerous performances in public to change people’s perception of beauty and queerness and bring attention to the harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. 
 
Agniia Galdanova is a Sundance and IDFA-supported documentary film director. Her previous film “One Step Forward, One Step Back” about a family’s dream to live far from civilization in the Altai Mountains premiered at the Message to Man International Film Festival.

QUEENDOM is produced by Agniia Galdanova and Igor Myakotin ( Welcome to Chechnya) with executive producers Jess Search ( Citizenfour), David France ( How to Survive a Plague), Arnaud Borges (  C’est tout pour moi), and James Costa (Hidden Letters ).  It is a Galdanova Film production in association with Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, International Documentary Association, InMaat Productions, Doc Society, and Sopka Films. The film is being released by Greenwich Entertainment.

 

QUEENDON is currently finishing its limited theatres release and at the same time is available on Amazon Prime, On Demand, and other platforms. 

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Related Posts