LOS ANGELES—13th Gen and Gravitas Ventures present Baloney, Joshua Guerci's documentary chronicling 18 months in the life of Baloney, a mostly male, San Francisco burlesque troupe. The documentary made its world premiere at Frameline and went on to play at Outfest Los Angeles, Seattle Queer Film Festival, Cinema Diverse Palm Springs, Winnipeg Reel Pride Film Festival, TLVFest: Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival, Boston Wicked Queer LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. At RuPaul's DragCon Los Angeles, the movie is nominated for Best Documentary.
Baloney debuts on Jun. 7 across North America and will be available on a number of digital and cable platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, Spectrum and inDemand.
Baloney was directed, produced and shot by Guerci in his feature debut. Marc Smolowitz (Being BeBe, Transfinite) produced.
Queer artist Michael Phillis co-created Baloney after quitting his day job as a tech manager. The performance troupe offers a classic variety show combined with burlesque, using theater, dance and striptease to explore and celebrate queer sexuality and life experience. Phillis, together with his life partner Rory Davis, have been entertaining audiences for years, and this documentary offers up an under-the-covers look at the real-life people who create and perform the show, and a behind the scenes view into all of the hard work that goes into putting on this professional theatrical production.
Said Phillis and Davis, "After doing the show live on stage for the past eight years, it's thrilling to see Baloney reach an international audience through Joshua's documentary. Our hope is that young queer adults will see the movie, connect to the show, and know that they're not alone. There's a wonderful world of underground queer performance out there and your chosen family is waiting for you."
Ahead of Baloney's VOD debut, director Guerci shared what Baloney means to him as a moviemaker and a human. Said Guerci, "Looking at the world today, I’m proud of Baloney because it challenges the prevailing narrative that sexuality is something to be ashamed of. Opponents to equality want to push LGBTQ identities back into the closet and this film demonstrates how queer identity is the entire lived experience of a person beyond what people do behind closed doors. I hope when people watch the film, it sparks a conversation about how we learn to be more like our authentic selves. I made Baloney to look beyond the coming out and the process. The Baloney journey explores not just who you love but how we love each other and ourselves."
While moderating the screening at Outfest Los Angeles, Drag Race star BenDeLaCreme said, “Baloney feels very much related to drag. There really is a relationship between Baloney, drag and indie filmmaking that’s all about being scrappy and making everything happen yourself and being all hands on deck to make the art be what it needs to be. That’s something really beautiful and relatable and exciting and I love that it’s uniquely San Francisco.”
To pre-order Baloney on iTunes, click here.
