Details
On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the city’s top ballroom houses convene in a sweaty, euphoric competition, in this electrifying portrait of contemporary queer Brazil.
Conceived in New York during the 1960s, when two Black queens left the white-dominated pageant contests behind to create their own scene, ballroom culture has long been a space of freedom, expression and transgression. Some 50 years on, the ballroom scene in Brazil is thriving, with houses across the country teaching the art of shade.
Directed by queer Brazilian artists Juru and Vitã, This is Ballroom stages a real-life ball in a warehouse in the city. Riotously soundtracked, the film only pauses for breath to illuminate the lives of its trans-led cast; away from the dancefloor, these interviews reveal simmering racial and gender tensions.
Capturing the spirit of a new, emerging generation, This is Ballroom celebrates this world as a bounteous and transformative space for queer people of colour.
The screening on Tuesday the 25th of February was followed by a Q&A with co-directors Juru and Vitã, and art director Princess Germanetto Mamba Negra. Hosted by filmmaker Joseph Adesunloye.
This screening was Open Captioned and the Q&A was Signed – a British Sign Language interpreter was visible on stage throughout the event.
In this joint curation between Bertha DocHouse and Sheffield DocFest, audiences are invited to discover the gems, highlights and new voices in non-fiction cinema which premiered in the past festival edition.