Cheyenne Picardo

Cheyenne Picardo is a New York based queer filmmaker. She uses subjective storytelling techniques to explore sexuality, gender, mental health, memory, and marginalization. Picardo received her BA in Film Studies and Creative Writing from Columbia College, determined to be a film critic and theorist. Then she fell in love with editing and documenting self-described freaks of the New York performance & club scenes, eventually earning her MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts.

Picardo’s first feature film Remedy told the story of a pro-switch (dominatrix/submissive) at a commercial dungeon in New York City, and is currently distributed through Gravitas Ventures and German theatrical distributor Deja- Vu. A member of Film Fatales, New York Women in Film and Television, and The Film Shop collectives, her recent work includes directing comedy special Bob the Drag Queen: Suspiciously Large Woman (Logo/Revry) and The Drag Roast of Heklina (Revry), editing the award winning environmental documentary feature Uranium Derby, producing and editing experimental queer doc Twirl Diary 21, as well as directing music videos and web series. In both her commercial and personal work, Picardo strives to dismantle and subvert outdated and dangerous tropes, undermining the destructive legacy of the Hays Code and new media gatekeeping, one frame at a time.