Filmmakers are at work on a new documentary about SF drag impresario Heklina, sadly gone before her time, and her friends and chosen family hope that it will inspire younger queer artists and also shed light on the dangers of anti-LGBTQ bias in police investigations.A week after we heard the final w ord on the investigation into Heklina's death from the London Metro Police, we're learning that a documentary project is getting underway about Heklina's life, her work as a performer and curator of the drag arts, and her untimely death three years ago.As the Chronicle reports, Heklina's longtime friend and collaborator Peaches Christ will co-produce the new documentary, titled Heklina, which will will be co-produced by India Woods of CMG Productions (American Zoo, Netflix's The Devil On Trial) and Brian Benson (Sorry to Bother You), with Ronna Malson (Roger and Me) serving as senior editor.Peaches tells the Chronicle that the film will draw from Heklina's recently digitized performance archive, and will have a significant focus on the three-year-long, botched investigation by the London Metro Police into Heklina's death."I hope this film exposes the institutional biases that still exist within the Met and helps push for real systemic change," Peaches tells the Chronicle.Heklina died from a seemingly accidental overdose, or as the police concluded, acute mixed drug toxicity, after going on a bender during her first few days on tour in London in April 2023. Heklina and Peaches were there to perform their drag spoof of Mommie Dearest, called Mommie Queerest, and as Peaches has previously explained, she left Heklina alone in the flat they were sharing so that she could have the kind of relapse binge she tended to have while traveling — after spending about two decades mostly sober.Peaches returned to find Heklina dead on the floor of the flat, in full drag, having apparently entertained some visitors the night before — three men seen on surveillance footage who would not be located by the police for the next two years. The men were ultimately questioned, and one gave a somewhat conflicting account from the other two about the state in which they left Heklina before exiting the apartment — and leaving its door slightly ajar.An autopsy would later find that Heklina had a mix of cocaine, MDMA, meth, GHB, ketamine, and other substances in her system, and the police concluded that there was "no evidence" of foul play or third-party involvement in her death.Peaches said last week that her trust in the London police was "broken" after she failed to see any movement on the case until she staged a protest in London last year. "Because of those failures, I may always wonder whether we truly know everything that happened in that apartment," Peaches said.Film producer Benson tells the Chronicle that while the police investigation, and its obvious problems, will give the documentary some "urgency," "at its heart, this film is about showing the world who Heklina was, what she created and why she mattered."Benson adds, in a statement, "Heklina was already an incredible story. Her life was worthy of a documentary long before the tragedy in London. She was outrageous, unapologetic and a transformative creative force who helped shape what drag became."As the driving creative force behind Trannyshack, which would later be rebranded as Mother, Heklina had a significant hand in defining the style, mood, and eccentricity of San Francisco drag for over two decades. Arguably, the emphasis of SF drag shows for many years on politically tinged performance art and taboo subject matter led to there being notably few local contestants heading to Rupaul's Drag Race after its launch in 2009. The show, which has come to define drag for a generation, places a heavy emphasis on beauty and fashion, while also expecting queens to excel at comedy, improvisation, dance, and lip-synching as well.As Peaches Christ put it, in an interview with SFist in 2019, "When anything goes mainstream, it gets dumbed down."And as Heklina said in the same interview, "The average drag fan now only cares about Rupaul queens, to the point of being rude to other queens. They don't seem to know that drag even existed before Drag Race.""All people want to see now is a death drop," Heklina lamented.No production timeframe or release date is yet available for the Heklina documentary.Previously: SF Queens On How 'Rupaul's Drag Race' Has Hurt (and Helped) The Larger World of Drag ...read more read less