Frank Simon’s keenly observed 1968 documentary is a behind-the-scenes view of a drag-queen contest at the Town Hall, in midtown Manhattan. The movie starts with a portrait of the MC, Jack, whose drag name is Sabrina. Simon details the emergence, by way of makeup and costuming, of Jack’s – and the contestants’ – superb artistry. In their hotel rooms, the show’s participants discuss the practicalities of gay and trans life at the time: their relationships with their partners and with parents and neighbors, the option of sex-affirming surgery. Despite its flash and glitz, the pageant comes off as difficult, exacting work; for all the camaraderie of the drag queens, the competition is fierce and serious. Simon reveals racial tensions among the contestants as well as the eternal conflict between life-worn troupers and talented young newcomers. Whether pushing the camera close to the performers or zooming in from afar, Simon intimately captures the lavish life of theatrical imagination that inspires them, and presents the public performance of gender as an urgent act of liberation. (源自: TIDF 2024)