Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall to Host 25th Anniversary But I’m a Cheerleader Screening at Florida Film Festival
Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall are making a special appearance at this year’s Florida Film Festival to host a screening of their 1999 queer rom-com But I’m a Cheerleader in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary.
It’s a timely screening, considering the spate of anti-LGBTQ laws that Florida Governor Ron De Santis signed into effect last summer. These include allowing doctors to deny care based on their religious and moral beliefs, banning the use of preferred pronouns in public schools, a ban against gender-affirming care, blocking children from attending drag shows, penalizing trans people for using the bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity, and more.
But at the 33rd annual Florida Film Festival, queerness will be celebrated. The screening of But I’m a Cheerleader, followed by a Q&A between Lyonne, DuVall, and the audience, will take place on April 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, Florida.
The festival as a whole runs from April 12-21, featuring over 170 films including opening night film Rachel Hendrix by Victor Nunez, a closing night retro 50th anniversary screening of Foxy Brown starring Pam Grier, and a midnight screening of Sébastien Vaniček’s French horror film Infested.
Directed by Jamie Babbit, the plot of But I’m a Cheerleader follows Lyonne as Megan, a popular teenage girl who dates the captain of the football team. But when her vegetarianism and love of Melissa Etheridge leads her parents to suspect that their daughter is secretly a lesbian, they ship her off to a queer conversion camp called True Directions.
Presided over by the hyper-feminine Mary Brown (Cathy Moriarty), the camp forces its campers into a program designed to “set them straight.” Ex-gay counselor Mike (RuPaul out of drag) campaigns hard for the ability to change one’s true nature. Clea DuVall plays a fellow camper, with other cast members including Michelle Williams, Melanie Lynskey, Bud Cort and Mink Stole.
Lyonne is also known for shows like Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black and Russian Doll, which she co-created and starred in. She’s a five-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe-nominee. Most recently, she executive produced and starred in The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy on Prime Video and directed the filmed version of comedian Jacqueline Novak’s one-woman show Get on Your Knees.
Lyonne will appear next in Azazel Jacobs’ film His Three Daughters, a bittersweet portrait of three sisters coming together in the wake of their father’s worsening health. She’s also gearing up for the second season of her and Rian Johnson’s mystery series Poker Face, which she stars in and executive produces under her Animal Pictures banner.
In addition to But I’m a Cheerleader, DuVall is also known for acting in 1999’s Girl, Interrupted opposite Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder. In 2020, she directed and co-wrote the romantic holiday comedy Happiest Season on Hulu. She recently returned as the voice of Elsa for the second season of Fox’s animated series HouseBroken, for which she serves as the co-creator, executive producer, and writer. She also wrote, directed, and executive produced for Amazon Freevee’s High School. In 2023, she made an appearance during the season finale of Poker Face and in 2022, she starred in Susanne Bier’s The First Lady alongside Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Gillian Anderson.
DuVall’s other notable credits include Argo, directed by Ben Affleck; How to Make the Cruelest Month; The Faculty; She’s All That; The Grudge; Zodiac; Little Witches; Can’t Hardly Wait; Girl; Wildflowers; Committed; Thirteen Conversations About One Thing; The Slaughter Rule; Out There; 21 Grams; Identity; The Conviction; The Killing Room; All About Nina; Zen Dog; Heaven’s Floor, and Ten Inch Hero.
Learn more about the 2024 Florida Film Festival here.
