10 February, 2021

‘Dragging up the Past’ a documentary detailing the colourful history of drag in Cork will premier online for free on Friday, February 12th, 2021. You can book your tickets here.

The documentary is a collaboration between MTU LGBT Society, MTU Arts Office and Chambers Bar with the support of Cork LGBT Archive and the Gay Project and is directed by CIT Digital Media graduate, Robin Guiton.

Guiton’s familiarity with Cork’s drag community provided him with considerable scope for storytelling. As well as interviews with Corks most iconic drag queens, Guiton’s film presents footage and archival material dating back to the earliest days of drag in Cork City, viewed through historical and social standpoints.

The film also gives an insight into drag culture and the hard work and artistic process involved in bringing these larger than life personas to the stage. The screening will be followed by a live Q&A session the filmmakers and drag stars, including Fabula Di Beauxmarchais, Candy Warhol, Letycha Le'Synn, and national drag icon Panti Bliss.

MTU Arts Officer, Sarah Morey said the Arts Office was delighted to fund the project. “The arts have an important role to play in documenting and celebrating narratives of inclusion, diversity and equality through different mediums,” she said.

Project Coordinator Konrad Im, who curated an exhibition of the same name for Culture Night 2018, stressed the importance of documenting the history of drag: “LGBT history has been erased in the past. You look at the 1916 Rising and there was LGBT people and women erased from that, so we’re trying to record the history, to make sure it’s there permanently, for people to learn from.”

You can get a preview ahead of Friday’s premiere by watching the documentary trailer here.

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