12 September 2026

Pearl: A Moving Animated Short About Drag, Family Rejection and Finding Acceptance


Pearl is a drag queen – and a young one at that.  And even though she has managed to bloom into her drag persona there is still one thing that hurts inside.  That is the rejection that she has faced from her mother.   One night, during her performance, she notices a familiar face in the audience…

Parental rejection is still something that impacts a lot of young people, which is a great shame in this day and age.  This animated short from a group of students tells the story of just one young person – who fortunately seems to have created their own support network already.  It’s bright, gaudy and irrepressible in its depiction of the drag queen, but carries something of a sombre message below the bright lights and the makeup. Bravo to the students (Aurélien David, Lisa Soulie; Meïssan Couren, Sabine Fabbiani, Erwan Barhmi, Julien Commercon, Yaël Balanca, Thomas Corvalan, Emma Ohlicher) who directed the film and all the others involved in this entertaining and worthy project.