New York queer and trans teens of colour find love, music and happiness in Damon Cardasis’ heart-warming lo-fi musical.
CREDITS
Dir-Scr Damon Cardasis
Prod Rebecca Miller, Damon Cardasis, Mandy Tagger Brockery, Adi Ezroni
With Luka Kain, Margot Bingham, Regina Taylor
USA
2017
83min
Sales WestEnd Films
Devotees of Glee and Moonlight, we’ve got you covered with Damon Cardasis’ joyous story of young love in musical form. Following his father’s death, teenager Ulysses (Luka Kain) has to stay with his mean and controlling aunt while his mother works nights. His aunt is determined to shame him out of his desire to wear his mother’s clothes and forces him to be his unruly young brother’s keeper. It means Ulysses has little time for contemplating his awakening interest in boys. Luckily, he finds a second home at ‘Saturday Church’, the weekly volunteer-run shelter. A trio of fairy godmothers, Ebony (MJ Rodriguez), Dijon (Indya Moore) and Heaven (Alexis Garcia) take him under their gloriously feathered wings and introduce him to heart-throb Raymond. Nathan Larson’s (Velvet Goldmine) melodious, hook-laden tunes underscore this heart-swelling celebration of love, which gives glorious voice to queer and trans characters of colour.