A King
2023 · 10m · USA
Directed by Ivan Olita
Genres: documentary, LGBTQ+
Tones: melancholic, tender, theatrical
After 35 years as Vegas's official Elvis impersonator, Jessie Garon stares down the slow public fade of his own persona. The film sits inside the neon and the sequins to ask what's left when the King's understudy ages out.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Most Vegas docs settle for kitsch and call it a day. Olita actually loves his subject enough to let the sadness breathe.
An Elvis impersonator treated as Avedon-worthy portrait subject — Olita uses neon and sequins to ask what's left when the King's understudy ages out. Errol Morris by way of a fashion magazine, exactly.
An Elvis impersonator treated like an Avedon portrait subject — sexuality, aging, identity erosion in one cape, sparkling jumpsuit and all. Olita's stylized documentary register is the right vehicle for this much weight.