Baltimore Magazine
The Chatter
Filmmaker Seeks Divine Intervention
By Evan Serpick
August 29th, 2011
If ever there was a subject ripe to be documented, it’s Divine, a.k.a. Baltimore native Harris Glenn Milstead, the overweight drag queen whose campy, often hilarious, sometimes bizarre turns in John Waters films like Pink Flamingos, Hairspray, Polyester, and Female Troubles always threatened to steal the show.
We’re happy to report that acclaimed director Jeffrey Schwarz is at work on just such a documentary, I Am Devine, and has already shot interviews with Waters, co-stars Ricki Lake and Mink Stole, Michael Musto, Bruce Vilanch, and Divine’s mother, Frances Milstead, among many others.
The problem is, Schwarz claims he doesn’t have money to pay for “editing, music, archival footage, graphics, and plenty of LIQUID EYELINER” and so, he’s started a fundraising campaign, aiming to raise $100,000 to release the film next year. So far, he’s raised $3,368, with 56 days left to meet his goal.
Frankly, $100K sounds like a lot of cheese to me, especially when the bulk of the shooting is already done. Maybe this is what is what it would cost to do some fairly high-end post-production work, or maybe the studio(s) that own those films are asking a lot to license the archival footage. In any case, I for one, would lerve to the see a documentary about Divine, “the most beautiful woman in the world.” If you’re not familiar with her charms, watch the clip on the website, and think about contributing….
