From Barbett to Fontaine
Cynthia Lee Fontaine in ‘Barbette’ Texas drag performer Cynthia Lee Fontaine stars in a new documentary about legendary Texas drag performer Barbette JENNY BLOCK | Contributing Writer jennyeblock@icloud.com Sometimes, it’s the smallest things that have the grandest impact.
That is certainly the case with the new documentary film Barbette + Fontaine, which tells the story of pioneering drag performer, Barbette, who performed all around the world, particularly in Paris.
But her story began right here in Texas, in the town of Round Rock. The film takes a look at where she’s from, “how she pushed the boundaries of art and gender illusion, and why now — more than ever — her story matters,” and it’s all examined in the first-person through the eyes of Cynthia Lee Fontaine, a modern-day drag queen who many may know from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Fontaine met the film’s director, John-Carlos Estrada, at a RuPaul’s Drag Race event in Austin a year ago. “That night, he told me he and his team were working on a possible idea for a project about a documentary,” Fontaine said.
