Wolfe announced this past week that documentary filmmaker
Sara Jordenö’s Kiki, the award-winning look at the New York City vogue scene
some 26 years after Jennie Livingston’s landmark film, Paris is Burning, will be
making its DVD debut on Aug. 22.
The film opened at Sundance in January of 2016 and has spent
the last 18 months on the road, working the festival circuit to rave reviews
and more awards than you can shake a stick — including Best Documentary at the Berlin
International Film Festival.
Teaming with Twiggy Pucci Garcon, an LGBT advocate familiar
with the culture and issues, specifically the Kiki ballroom scene, Jordenö
gives an insider’s view of the New York City world of “Kiki” dance-offs and
competition.
As with the documentary filmmaking team of Anne De Mare and
Kirsten Kelly’s The Homestretch (available on DVD from Icarus Films) many of
the “youth of color” homeless have been rejected from their socially
conservative families for the sin of being gay. They would, sadly, rather see their teenage
son or daughter on the street, fending for themselves (and all that goes with
that), then to accept them for who they are.
Such is the case with Jordenö subjects, who find acceptance
and purpose in the “club” competitions among the various “houses.” It is among these “houses” that Kiki dance and
ballroom events are staged, which allows the participants an opportunity to
express themselves that they might not otherwise have available.
In the end, Kiki is a celebration of life … full
of vibrant images and a marvelous soundtrack that includes selections from
MikeQ (DJ and founder of the Qween Beat recording label),
Amorpheus, Byrell The Great (DJ and producer for the NOTORIOUS Underground
Dance Scene of New York City) and Divoli S'vere (over ten years as a dancer and
visual artist in the ball scene).
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