Stud Country
LINA ABASCAL + ALEXANDRA KERN | USA | 2023 | 10 MIN |ENGLISH
LINA ABASCAL + ALEXANDRA KERN | USA | 2023 | 10 MIN |ENGLISH
Synopsis
Stud Country, the largest queer country western line dancing event in America, was created to preserve Los Angeles' little known 50+ year queer line dancing tradition. Despite its success and fiercely committed community, the event is set to lose its venue due to gentrification.
Trailer
Filmmaker Bio
Lina Abascal is a culture journalist, bestselling author, and first-time filmmaker. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, WIRED, Billboard, VICE, Playboy, and more. She has consulted for brands including Spotify, Equinox, and Netflix for creative ad campaigns. Her first book, Never Be Alone Again: How Bloghouse United the Internet and Dancefloor was a national bestseller.
Director's Statement
Lina Abascal is a culture journalist, bestselling author, and first-time filmmaker. Her first book, Never Be Alone Again: How Bloghouse United the Internet and Dancefloor was a national bestseller.
Filmmaker Bio
Alexandra is an award winning filmmaker whose work explores how we inform the next generation in our complex cultures. Growing up in New Orleans has taught her how crucial culture and art are in shaping future generations and how the family extends outside the home. She has produced commercial and independent acclaimed projects for artists such as Dua Lipa and Lil Nas X.
Director's Statement
When journalist Lina Abascal came across Stud Country she partnered with Alexandra to bring the story of Stud Country to the screen through individuals that represent the old and new guard of queer country line dancing. As a third-generation Los Angeleno, Lina is passionate about highlighting a part of the city's history that has never been documented. The story of Stud Country and the line dance events that preceded it is as much a story of queer community as it is of gentrification and loss of community spaces in Los Angeles. In early interviews with Sean, one of the founders of Stud Country, he spoke about his initial skepticism to any press or filming of the event. He noted how easy it is for Stud Country to be misrepresented as novel and campy versus a profound space with a little known history. While we hope the ephemeral feeling of dancing at Stud Country and the beautiful visuals hook audiences, our intention is to use the dance night as a vessel to discuss deeper themes about the importance of community spaces and rhythmic movement’s profound role in creating and sustaining communities. By using the impending closure of Club Bahia to structure our film and drive urgency, we hope to raise the stakes and establish conflict. This approach results in a quieter, darker, and more contemplative film than what some may expect from the log line. The more introspective tone was also driven by the resources available to us as a self-funded project. We went into this project understanding that music licensing would be very difficult. Making a film about dance without limitless access to music is a huge challenge. Rather than being frustrated at these limitations, we used this constraint to shape our film. Thank you for your time and consideration, Lina and Alexandra
Producer
Lina Abascal, Alexandra Kern
Cinematographer
Kenny Suleimanagich
Cast
- Anthony Ivancich
- Zach Solomon
- Abi Hamilton
- Bailey Salisbury
- Sean Monoghan
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