Indie Romantic Thriller ‘Dope Queens’ Set for World Premiere at Bentonville Film Festival

“Dope Queens,” an indie film celebrating San Francisco’s famed Tenderloin neighborhood, will screen for the first time at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas. 

The film will have its world premiere on June 20 during the festival that runs June 16-22.

Back in November 2021, Alexandra Grey (“Empire,” “Gossamer Folds”), Pierson Fodé (“The Man From Toronto,” “The Wrong Paris”) and Trace Lysette (“Hustlers,” “Monica”) were announced to star in the project by writer-director Grafton Doyle. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars Kylie Sonique Love and Krystal Thomas joined the film as supporting cast members.

Based on true events, the romantic thriller will follow three friends, Goldie (Grey), Blake (Fodé), and Angel (Lysette), who must hustle through the night on the streets of Tenderloin. The area is landmarked as an important place in the LGBTQ+ community, having become the first legally recognized transgender district in the world.

The film is produced by Julio Lopez Velazquez (“Buck Run,” “A Place in the Field”) via Tomorrowland Productions, John Reyes Doyle (“On Our Way,” “A Place in the Field”) and Grafton Doyle. Eugene Koh (“Feeling Through”) and Jillian Houghton are co-producing.

In addition to the world premiere, the 11th annual festival offers a week of film screenings, industry-expert-led panels, Q&As and networking sessions. Actress Geena Davis founded the week-long event in collaboration with Walmart and Coca-Cola. Davis serves as the chair of the film festival alongside her Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for equal representation of women in media.

Grey’s credits include “MacGyver,” The Alienist” and “How to Get Away With Murder.” She is represented by Citizen Skull and Zero Gravity Management.

Fodé spent three years on the long-running soap “The Bold and the Beautiful” and has appeared in “Supergirl” and “Tacoma FD.” He is with Innovative Artists, Zero Gravity Management, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.

Lysette is represented by Innovative Artists, Stride Management and Peikoff Mahan Law Office. She has earned an Independent Spirit Nomination for best lead performance for “Monica” along with the GLAAD Media Award for best film. Her other credits include “Transparent” and “Q-Force,” and she served as a producer and subject on the documentary “Disclosure.”