Program 04: Queering the Script

Directed by Gabrielle Zilkha

Documentary Feature, Next Generation Series, October 12
Canada, USA
2019
85 mins
NEW YORK STATE premiere

If you have ever “shipped” a couple on a TV show, wished a couple was gay that actually wasn’t, decided a couple was even if the showrunners disagreed, or have simply watched carefully the number of queer characters on television in general, this fascinating and super timely documentary is for you.

Director Gabrielle Zilkha talks to industry experts, website mistresses, showrunners, writers, actresses, and fans about the state of female queer representation on TV as Queering the Script takes us back to the beginning. From Ellen’s historical coming out episode to the tandem births of the Internet and Xena, Warrior Princess, we see how the word “fandom” became the norm and how the collective love/heartbreak/rage of that fandom can affect the direction of a show, and how #BuryYourGays spawned an outrage of fans so enormous, it created Clexacon, the world’s largest multi-fandom event for LGBTQ women and allies.

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The L Word to Orange is the New Black to Glee, The 100, Carmilla, One Day at a Time, Wynonna Earp, and Riverdale…they’re all touched on, along with many, many others. In a time of such turmoil in our country, this documentary reassures us that we’re still here, we’re still queer, and we’re very, very loud. There’s no silencing us now.

~ Georgia Beers

Awards & Accolades