Juno Films Acquires Georden West’s Queer Fantasy ‘Playland’
EXCLUSIVE: Boutique distributor Juno Films has taken North American rights to Playland, a queer genre-bender marking the first feature from writer-director Georden West. On the heels of a festival run that saw it world premiere in Rotterdam before going on to play the Tribeca Festival and others, the film is slated for a theatrical release this spring, with a digital release for Pride Month to follow in June.
Playland conjures a time-bending night in Boston’s oldest and most notorious gay bar. Featuring an eclectic ensemble of queer performers, including drag icon Lady Bunny and Pose‘s Danielle Cooper, the transdisciplinary film sees music, dance, archival footage, tableaux, opera, and performance art layered into an ethereal piece subverting all boundaries. The work of queer fantasy and history takes place inside the empty husk of the Playland Café. Although the cafe shut down in the late ’90s, West stages one last bawdy night on the town for the ghosts of their LGBTQ+ ancestors.
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Demolished but never forgotten, the Playland Café provided a meeting ground for an exceptionally diverse crowd — throughout its lifespan, it featured acts from drag performances to DJ sets and was connected to Pride rallies and underground gay newspapers. As a gathering place for outsiders, it was also a target for police raids and zoning redevelopment projects.
Playland is an international co-production, produced with the support of Stars Collective, Artless Media, Public School Pictures, Phoenix Rising, and Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio.
Juno Films CEO Elizabeth Sheldon called the film “an homage to a bygone era,” noting that “the interweaving of archival footage, audio recordings and performance brings to mind the experimental work of Derek Jarman and Sally Potter with overtones of early David Lynch. Georden has crafted a distinctive and inventive film that reminds viewers that, although certain pioneering queer spaces may be gone, their legacy cannot be erased.”
Added producer Russell Sheaffer of Artless Media, who negotiated the deal with Sheldon, “We know audiences are thirsty for queer storytelling that breaks the mold – and we are thrilled to have partnered with Juno Films to bring Playland to audiences in 2024. Juno’s sensibility is perfectly suited for our film, which is a part of a larger cultural move towards the reclamation of our shared queer histories.”
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