This film is currently unavailable
Dressed as a Girl
An in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at London’s finest drag performers. Warning: extreme use of make-up and glitter.
Director: Colin Rothbart
Overview
The London East End drag performance phenomenon gets its moment in this fabulous behind-the-scenes account of six years in the lives of some of its most celebrated performers. See Jonny Woo, John Sizzle, Holestar, Scottee, Amber, Pia and Ma Butcher dazzle and surprise with their on-stage antics.
There is enough eye make-up and sequins on display to sink a battleship, but at the heart of this surprisingly intimate portrait is the dark side of their lives. The relentless quest for glamorous originality often comes at a personal cost. These London superstars fearlessly open up about their various encounters with sex, drink, drugs, emotional and mental struggles, plastic surgery and HIV. The film is both a record of a fascinating style of hyper-costumed performance and an insight into the fragile personal lives of these heroic public idols.
Related
Of Time and the City Of Time and the City
Documentary 2008 74 mins Director: Terence Davies
Brilliantly mixing archive film and music, Liverpool-born director Terence Davies reflects with wit and wisdom on a times of change, for good or ill
Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande
Documentary 2022 90 mins Director: Tim MacKenzie-Smith
The incredible story of a band you may never have heard of but whose sound has influenced generations with their irresistible rhythms and message of peace.
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer
Biopic 2024 90 mins Director: Thomas von Steinaecker
A riveting and all-encompassing portrait of the iconic German filmmaker.
Outlaws of Love Outlaws of Love
Documentary 1963 98 mins Director: Valentino Orsini, Vittorio Taviani and Paolo Taviani
Ugo Tognazzi stars in this anthology docu-drama about the Catholic Church's iron-clad hold on the sanctity of marriage and the modern omnipresence of divorce, told across five episodes.
SCALA!!! SCALA!!!
Documentary 2023 96 mins Director: Jane Giles and Ali Catterall
Engrossing tribute to London’s legendary Scala cinema, aptly subtitled: Or, the incredibly strange rise and fall of the world’s wildest cinema and how it influenced a mixed-up generation of weirdos and misfits.
De Humani Corporis Fabrica De Humani Corporis Fabrica
Documentary 2022 118 mins Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel
The psychedelic physicality of this mortal coil – journey into the systems that comprise the human body in this fascinating sensory experience.
Appropriate Behaviour Appropriate Behaviour
Comedy 2015 86 mins Director: Desiree Akhavan
Desiree Akhavan directs and stars in this witty, razor-sharp and fearless comedy following the sexual misadventures of a bisexual Brooklynite.
Caravaggio Caravaggio
Biopic 1986 93 mins Director: Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman’s unique biopic of the 17th century Italian artist Michelangelo da Caravaggio is a powerful meditation on sexuality, criminality and art.
Viva Viva
Sex comedy 2008 116 mins Director: Anna Biller
Anna Biller's outrageous sexploitation satire follows bored housewife Barbi as she searches for adventure in predatory 1970s Los Angeles.
The Watermelon Woman The Watermelon Woman
Comedy 1997 85 mins Director: Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye's smart and funny romance - thought to be the first feature directed by a black lesbian - remains a breath of fresh air decades on.
End of the Century End of the Century
Drama 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
Aniara Aniara
Science Fiction 2018 106 mins Director: Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja
The passengers on an interstellar space-liner are thrown into turmoil when their mission goes off course, in this compassionate and thought-provoking sci-fi drama.
Of Time and the City Of Time and the City
Documentary 2008 74 mins Director: Terence Davies
Brilliantly mixing archive film and music, Liverpool-born director Terence Davies reflects with wit and wisdom on a times of change, for good or ill
20,000 Species of Bees 20,000 Species of Bees
Drama 2023 128 mins Director: Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren
Sofía Otero ignites this warm, rich Spanish drama woven from a child’s probing question: who am I?
Undertow Undertow
Drama 2009 101 mins Director: Javier Fuentes-León
Miguel, a young married fisherman with a baby on the way, struggles to reconcile his devotion to his male lover within his town’s rigid traditions.
Tótem Tótem
Drama 2022 95 mins Director: Lila Avilés
A poignant birthday party exposes a series of family tensions in Lila Avilés’ outstanding follow-up to The Chambermaid.
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
Underground Underground
Comedy 1995 170 mins Director: Emir Kusturica
Set against the backdrop of 50 turbulent years of Yugoslavian history, this deeply moving and masterful tragic-farce from director Emir Kusturica earned him his second Palme d'Or.