This delightful French TV mini series THE QUEEN OF PARIS (aka Clément, reine de la nuit) directed by Holy Fatma and Anne Flore Trichilo is the story of 30 year chemist called Clément.  When his working day finishes this disarmingly charming young man transforms into Veronika a much beloved drag queen that performs with a troupe of friends in a series of small (and not so small) Parisian bars.

Right from the very first frame it is impossible not to be swept up by his/her infectious good humor . He squeezes his self described chubby frame into extravagant and ornate homemade costumes to jump into a cab for the venue for that night’s performance.  He is the self-styled den mother of the Van Lear family of drag queens who look up to him for support, encouragement and advice.

They are all very well put together but this is not the overly-polished extremely bitchy and hostile work of drag as created and portrayed on reality TV.  In many senses it is an almost forgotten world where queens did drag for sheer fun/enjoyment of it, and we just lapped it up.

The camera follows Clément/Veronika throughout a week or two as he prepares, preforms and even gets dressed up in front of his roommate …..who is also his mother.  What comes over in this very affectionate profile of the sheer joy he gets from his life, and how he passes that on to others.

There is little talk of having a romantic relationship which many drag queens find difficult to balance.  One of his friends Loic aka Bertha recounted was that he thought a potential boyfriend was into him (as a man) but then one night demanded Bertha put on her big wig on before they made out.

What really cemented the Series for us was seeing Clement and a large group of drag queens dressed up to the nines hitting the streets of the Marais in central Paris with collection tins for AIDS .  

A wee gem that you shouldn’t miss

PS This film is streaming as part of OUT ON FILM Atlanta's Virtual Queer Festival.