Gena, a queer artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes made from junk and tape, and protests the government on the streets of Moscow. Born and raised on the harsh streets of Magadan, a frigid outpost of the Soviet gulag, Gena is only 21. She stages radical performances in public that become a new form of art and activism. By doing that, she wants to change people’s perception of beauty and queerness and bring attention to the harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. The performances—often dark, strange, evocative, and queer at their core — are a manifestation of Gena’s subconscious. But they come at a price.

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 FilmFestival. Her work focuses on complex human relationships told through immersive observational language. Her new film QUEENDOM about a young queer artist Gena Marvin is set to premiere at SXSW 2023 in Documentary Competition.