In the late 1970s, two friends named Jolanda and Mummo shared a stage in a Finnish drag show called Happy Gays. The performance made it onto television. Nearly half a century later, a group of younger drag artists is finding out what it takes to bring the show back to life.
That meeting is at the heart of Fruitcakes: Dawn of Drag, a documentary by Vesa Kuosmanen. The Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival lists the film’s world premiere for November 7 at Apollo Kino Plaza.
Two Friends in the Spotlight
The festival describes Happy Gays as Finland’s first drag show. It also describes two different experiences of visibility. Jolanda, now a retired archivist, spent much of his life in the closet. Mummo became one of Finland’s earliest openly gay men. In April 1988, Mummo was murdered in his home.
For Jolanda, opening his archive means sharing a piece of the life he and his friend had before that loss. There was a show to put on, a stage to share and an audience that would eventually extend beyond the people in the room.
When a New Cast Takes the Stage
The Finnish Film Foundation describes the project as a collaboration between Jolanda and a younger generation of drag artists. Kuosmanen brings footage from the 1980s together with staged scenes and present-day rehearsals. The festival programme describes moments of friction and humour as the new performers encounter the traditions of the older show.
A revival gives the performers something concrete to talk about. Which parts of the old show still get a laugh? What do younger artists want to do differently? Those questions give the history somewhere to go: back into a room where people are making a show together.
For viewers who never saw Happy Gays, the documentary offers a chance to meet Jolanda and remember Mummo as his friend and fellow performer. They once got to share the pleasure of putting on a show. Now a new cast gets a turn.
📷 PÖFF