** New 4K restoration from the original camera negative, with a drag performance on opening night (Aug. 16) by Cookie Couture (Reese Umbaugh)! **

More than 40 years before RuPaul’s Drag Race, this ground-breaking documentary about the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant introduced audiences to the world of competitive drag. The film takes us backstage to kiki with the contestants as they rehearse, throw shade, and transform into their drag personas in the lead-up to the big event. Organized by LGBT icon and activist Flawless Sabrina, the competition boasted a star-studded panel of judges including Andy Warhol and his superstars Edie Sedgwick and Mario Montez. But perhaps most memorable is an epic diatribe calling out the pageant scene’s racial bias delivered by Crystal LaBeija, who would go on to form the influential House of LaBeija, heavily featured in Paris is Burning (1990). A vibrant piece of LGBT history, THE QUEEN can now be seen in full resplendence thanks to a new restoration from the original camera negative.

(Frank Simon, US, 1968, 68 min)

Description and cover photo courtesy of Kino Lorber.

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About COOKIE COUTURE, our opening night drag queen mistress of ceremonies:

In just 4 years, Seattle drag entertainer Cookie Couture has gone from drag ingenue to a leading force in the Seattle drag community, hosting & producing monthly drag shows Queen4Queen (Pony) & West End Girls (Skylark West Seattle), as well as the resident DJ at Sped-Up (Re-bar Seattle) and hostess of R Place’s RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing parties & their incredibly popular local drag competition show So You Think You Can Drag? When Cookie‘s not applying metric tons of make-up to her face, she enjoys spending time with her family, hanging out with her Bulldog & laughing at her own jokes.

Follow Cookie‘s escapades on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/cookiecouturequeen