“Queendom” - Documentary Review
Since 2013, Russia has made it illegal to “promote” LGBT identities. In 2024, the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association ranked Russia as the worst country (of the 49 surveyed) for LGBT rights. It’s Russia where queer performance artist Gena Marvin lives. Gena describes their performance persona as an entity that transcends sex, gender, and identity on a larger scale. It’s their art and life that are the focus of Queendom, one of the documentaries shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature for the 2025 Academy Awards.
courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment
Gena grew up with their grandparents in Magadan, Russia. It’s a small rural village, far away from the bright lights of the big cities. Even though places like St. Petersburg and Moscow are more urban, there’s still negativity toward queer people that permeates every inch of the country. Queendom follows Gena for four years, from 2019 through 2023, as they attend college in Moscow and protest the arrest of Alexei Navalny, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and other political events. Their grandparents, their grandfather in particular, want Gena to give up their art. Gena’s grandparents don’t understand what Gena’s Slenderman-esque outfits and sky-high high heels mean to them and to the larger social unrest that exists within Russia.
At first glance, Gena is a lot to take in. Their head is completely shaved and their face is often painted fully white with dramatic make-up around their eyes and lips. When Queendom first introduces them, the audience sees them in an outfit that could pass for something Pierrot the clown would wear. They walk across uneven, rocky, snow-covered terrain in wildly impractical high heels to find the perfect location to shoot their latest piece of art for social media. Gena’s art is intense, esoteric, and evocative. Queendom doesn’t show Gena’s literal thought process on what each work is supposed to symbolize, but through this vérité style, the audience can feel the pain, anger, and hope for the future that Gena is conveying. They feel pride in the place that they’re from, but the country doesn’t return that feeling.
courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment
Queendom is a middle finger to the people who believe that the inhabitants of any country exist as a monolith. It’s nothing short of astonishing to see Gena openly protesting a regime that has made their existence illegal. There are always people who work from within to disrupt things. Even if they’re not organized groups or protests, the simple existence of someone like Gena is a political act in itself. Early in the documentary, one of Gena’s friends talks about how there’s a generational sense of fear that exists in the Russian people. After so many years of subjugation, they often find submission to power easier than the effort that goes into change. Gena’s friend looks at them and says “Thank God you’re different.” For Gena’s entire life, they’ve probably been told that they’re different, as though that was a negative attribute that needed to be changed. This could very well be the first instance where someone other than themself is telling Gena that their strangeness is their greatest strength.
Gena’s art is not for everyone. It might be too modern, too weird, or just plain incomprehensible to some, but the fact of the matter is that Gena’s art should not only exist, but be seen widely. It’s protest art in a form that has never existed before. Queendom is a subversive look at an artist who refuses to give up the fight.
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