I Am Divine

There has never been another like him. The 300-pound drag queen named Divine (aka Harris Glenn Milstead) was outrageous even before he met budding underground filmmaker John Waters when the two were growing up in Baltimore. Together, the duo would take on the world with their legendary camp film collaborations with Divine starring in Waters’ midnight movie classics Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Polyester, and others until Divine finally reached his improbable goal – mainstream stardom in 1985’s Hairspray before his untimely death not long after. In this entertaining and insightful documentary, director Jeffrey Schwarz (Vito, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon) reveals how this shy, chronically overweight youth became the internationally recognized drag superstar who altered notions of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty. The ultimate outsider turned into underground royalty, Divine’s in-your-face style blurred the line between performer and personality and revolutionized pop culture. Schwarz’s film is a definitive biographical portrait that encompasses the legendary icon’s rise to infamy while delving into the emotional complexities of its subject.

Event website Tickets