Body horror short Birth of the Hive Queen, the debut narrative film from New York-based collective Tempest Creation, will screen at Brooklyn’s Spectacle Theater on May 1 and 2, 2026, as part of a double feature alongside Stephen Winter’s Jason and Shirley Revisited. Both screenings will conclude with a Q&A featuring celebrated author, activist, and historian Sarah Schulman. You can read our review of the film here.
Narrated by a newborn child, the film centers on Amina (Tommy Boy), a trans sex worker whose night takes a nightmarish turn after returning home to find her telepathic moth, Lukas, neglected and starving. Without warning, she’s seized by a terrible pain in her abdomen — and something inside her begins to push its way out. Drawing deliberately from body horror shockers and speculative sci-fi, Birth of the Hive Queen channels its visceral premise into a meditation on the weight of trauma, the burdens of motherhood, and the complicated nature of inheritance.
The film debuted in New York to strong acclaim. Filmmaker and actress Zackary Drucker called it “a fabulous debut,” while director Stephen Winter (Chocolate Babies) described it as “pure cinema…wickedly conceived.”
Tempest Creation’s previous short, Annarchy Artist, premiered at NewFest 2024 and is currently available to stream via the Otherness Archive, a platform dedicated to experimental work by queer and trans creators. Birth of the Hive Queen is now entering the festival circuit.
Both screenings take place at Spectacle Theater in Brooklyn on May 1 and 2, 2026.
