Saturday Church (2017)

A 14 year-old-boy, struggling with gender identity and religion, begins to use fantasy to escape his life in the inner city and find his passion in the process.

Director:

Damon Cardasis

Writer:

Damon Cardasis

Stars:

Indya Moore, Margot Bingham, Regina Taylor

14 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Indya Moore	...	Dijon
Margot Bingham	...	Amara
Regina Taylor	...	Aunt Rose
Mj Rodriguez	...	Ebony
Peter Y. Kim	...	Mark
Evander Duck Jr.	...	Father Lewis
Alexia Garcia	...	Heaven
Marquis Rodriguez	...	Raymond
Jaylin Fletcher	...	Abe
Stephen Conrad Moore	...	Marshall
Luka Kain	...	Ulysses
Jarrett Austin Brown	...	Julius Boy #3
José Báez	...	Man In Bodega
Kate Bornstein	...	Joan
Kia Labeija	...	Kia LaBeija

Storyline

A 14 year-old-boy, struggling with gender identity and religion, begins to use fantasy to escape his life in the inner city and find his passion in the process.

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Plot Keywords:

transgender | trans woman | trans community | homeless shelter | transgender boy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Musical

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kościół sobotni

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spring Pictures, Round Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

It's still not easy being gay, but it's easier if you have friends

Saturday Church (2017) was written and directed by Damon Cardasis. It stars Luka Kain as Ulysses, a young gay African-American man who would like to be a cross dresser. He's tormented and bullied in school, and verbally abused at home by his aunt, who takes care of him.

Ulysses finds Saturday Church, a place where gay men can express their identity, and where most of the members can, and do, cross dress safely. Saturday Church introduces Ulysses to the voguing scene, and the film gives us plenty of music to hear and voguing to watch.

It's discouraging that we still need places like Saturday Church, but at least they are there. (There really is a Saturday Church in NYC.)

I enjoyed this film because of the great performance by Luka Kain. (Performance in the sense of acting, as well as performance in the sense of voguing.) To a certain extent, it opened a window to the world of drag queens. It also reminded me that, even in 2017, in the United States, it still isn't easy being openly gay. I think that all of us need that reminder.

We saw this movie at Rochester's great Little Theatre, as part of the wonderful ImageOut, the LGBT Film Festival. It won't work as well on the small screen, but it's still worth finding it and watching it.