The Queen (1968)

Directed by

Frank Simon

Genre

documentary film, LGBTQ-related film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 08m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 34 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A documentary follows drag queens as they prepare for and take part in a 1967 beauty contest in New York City. It shows the camaraderie and competition backstage and on stage.

observationalintimatenostalgicupbeatearnestbehind-the-sceneslively

What happens

The Queen is a 1968 American documentary film directed by Frank Simon and narrated by Flawless Sabrina. It depicts the experiences of the drag queens organizing and participating in the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest held at New York City's Town Hall. The film was screened at the International Critics' Week section of the 1968 Cannes Film Festival; however, the festival was ultimately curtailed and ended due to ongoing civil unrest in France before any awards could be given out. First released in the United States in June 1968 to generally positive reviews, it was subsequently screened in France (November 1968), Netherlands (1969), Denmark (1969), and Finland (1969). The film was revived in January 2013 at New York Film Forum, followed by a 4K restoration screened during the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival. In 2020, Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray of the restored version of The Queen, with bonus additional footage, an interview with Flawless Sabrina, and Queens at Heart as additional features. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Paris Is Burning (1990)
• Behind Every Good Man (1967)
• Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria (2005)
• Flesh (1968)
• Still a Brother (1968)
• The Boston Strangler (1968)
• Queens at Heart (1967)
• Dragged (2016)