An aspiring drag queen must find the courage to take the stage for the first time, but can a flower bloom in this much shade? Featuring a cast of real-life performers from Boston, Massachusetts, “Bloom” explores the intense artistry and determination behind every drag show.

Director’s Statement

Drag is an incredibly rich and diverse art form, but as all artists know, the creative process isn’t glamorous. It’s tedious, it’s mundane, it’s frustrating. It takes years to hone your skills, the materials are expensive, and the competition is daunting. Then, if you can get up the courage to go through this gauntlet and put yourself out there, you imagine that there’s a crowd waiting to cheer you on—that all this work will be rewarded. But sometimes that’s not the case. Sometimes, you have to play to an empty room. For any artist, this is the crucial test: the question becomes, why go through all this? Is it for external validation—some fantasy of fame or celebrity, or is it more about achieving something for yourself? For our lead character, the answer is the latter. She not only finds personal fulfillment, but the acceptance of a community of performers who all experienced the same rite of passage.