Seen at...
Kiki
- Director: Sara Jordenö
- Writer: Twiggy Pucci Garcon; Sara Jordenö
- Producer: Lori Cheatle; Tobias Janson
CGiii Comment
Paris is Burning versus Kiki...versus Strike a Pose.
Last century versus the century.
Spontaneity versus choreography.
The pioneers have been replaced by...media-savvy mimics who have failed to evolve their ballroom scene beyond their bedrooms. It looks and sounds exactly the same...with a difference...
Paris is Burning was fun, fresh and involving...Kiki is a shabby, rehearsed regurgitation with requisite buzz-words and the de rigueur political correctness that is as tarnished as those tacky old trophies!
More dance, less [rehearsed] chat would have made this a far more entertaining film...because its interest is somewhat limited, due to the success of its predecessor and the lacklustre approach of the current filmmakers...without evolution, extinction follows quickly.
Kiki played a vast amount of festivals, won some awards...take note filmmakers, find an old film, re-make it without pushing it forward...and then, dear hearts, you'll be onto a winner!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
25 years after Paris is Burning, we dive back into the fierce world of voguing battles in the Kiki scene of New York City, where competition between Houses demands leadership, painstaking practice, and performances on point. A film collaboration between Kiki gatekeeper, Twiggy Pucci Garson, and Swedish filmmaker Sara Jordenö, we’re granted exclusive access into this high stakes world, where tough competitions act as a gateway into the daily lives of LGBTQ youth of color in NYC. The new generation of ballroom youth use the motto, “Not About us Without Us.” Twiggy and Sara’s insider-outsider approach to their stories breathes fresh life into the representation of a marginalized community who demand visibility and real political power.
It’s easy to fall in love with the underground dancing in Kiki, while the backbone showcases the House family structures, thereby allowing community members to flourish. Inspiring leadership, today’s Kiki scene is made up of strong relationships and unbelievable resilience, which fill this frank and frenetic film with great hope. Kiki continues traditions of the past while defiantly rooting itself in today’s politics, style, and language.