QueenS of the Qing Dynasty
by AshlEy McKenzie

Catalog Number: FTF-144
Length: 122 minutes

In a remote small town, a neurodivergent teen forms an unlikely rapport with an international student from Shanghai volunteering at the hospital where they are a patient. Between the two, a bond forms, cemented by their candid conversations, nightly text messages, and exchange of their deepest secrets. The boundaries of their friendship quickly expand into something special, altering their inner alchemy. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is a queer story that breaches the absurd and poetic, the platonic and the romantic. Both intimate and intense, it explores the intrinsic beauty and innate flaws of what it is to be human, the profundity of connection, and the vortex of mental illness. The electronic music score blurs between cinema foley and sound design to create a feeling of an alternate plane. Queens of the Qing Dynasty is an affectionate ode to women, asexuals, and neurodiverse and genderqueer individuals who exist beyond the norms of society by writer and director Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival).

Directed by Ashley McKenzie
Written by Ashley McKenzie
Produced by Britt Kirr, Nelson MacDonald, and Ashley McKenzie
Music by Cecile Believe and Yu Su
Cinematography by Scott Moore
Starring: Sarah Walker and Ziyin Zheng

Festivals: Berlin International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Queer Lisboa International film Festival, Universal Sci-fi and Fantastic Film Festival, New Hampshire Film Festival, Mar del Plata Film Festival 

WATCH THE FILM

June 22-25, 2023
Stray Cat Film Center, Kansas City, MO info

PRESS

“Daring. Destabilizing in the best, mind expanding way”.
- Nicolas Rapold, Artforum

"A rare, cathartic, and humane commodity. McKenzie has given us a movie worth talking about."
- Adam Nayman, Cinema Scope

“Hopeful and deeply emotional. Feels like a fairytale for these isolating times.”
- Jourdain Searles, IndieWire

Ashley McKenzie is staking out territory as a showstopping neo-realist.
- Scout Tafoya, RogerEbert.com 

“Impressive. Showcases McKenzie’s flair for complex characters hoping to break free from their ennui.”
- Caitlin Quinlan, Variety