Summer Films - But I'm a Cheerleader

The programme for Summer Films 2025 has plenty in store again this year: atmospheric short films, a live film concert, offbeat gems and the grand comeback of cliché bingo. Films that missed the cinemas this year will be screened under the stars by Summer Films.

THURSDAY 17 JULY: BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER

Satire | Director: Jamie Babbit Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, RuPaul, Cathy Moriarty, and others. United States, 1999, duration: 1:32, Dialogue: English. Subtitles: Dutch

Seventeen-year-old Megan is a cheerleader, her boyfriend plays football and she always gets good grades. So it comes as a shock when her parents send her to “True Directions”, a conversion camp for queer young people. Between grotesque cleaning lessons and therapy sessions, Megan accepts her sexuality and herself. This iconic satire is pure 90s camp, but proves timeless with its tireless optimism and self-deprecating humour; the perfect antidote to all lesbian costume dramas and their inevitable doomed endings.

Bingo! But I'm a Cheerleader plays heavily with film and gender normativity clichés, making it perfect for a cliché bingo game. You'll hear the rules before the film.