FREE | Wheelchair accessible
Limited capacity | RSVP required
This Is Ballroom (Salão De Baile)
Directed by Juru and Vitã
Brazil / 2024 / 92’ / Portuguese, English
Screening of This is Ballroom is followed by conversation with Juru, Twysted Miyake-Mugler and Mother Tamar Miyake-Mugler.
In Rio de Janeiro City and its outskirts, LGBTQ+ youth of colour recreate Ballroom culture on their own terms. A portrait of the dramas, the voguing performances, and the art of shade, 50 years after its inception in New York. Rio is burning!
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS
Vitã is a filmmaker and screenwriter. Director of the short film, The day I remembered the trip to Bicuda (2015) and producer of the feature documentary It’s Not the First Time We Fight For Our Love (2022). Curator of Brazilian Comedy FF and of showcases on Hong Sangsoo films in four cities in Brazil. Master’s degree in Audiovisual at UFF (Brazil). In the ballroom scene, they participate as an independent photographer and are a member of the Legendary House of Lauren Intl.
Juru is a researcher, dramaturgist and performing arts critic. Casting coach for the feature film Com O Terceiro Olho na Terra da Profanação, by Catu Rizo (2017) and the short film Sunset, by Bruno Roger (2014). Dramaturgist in the performance Repertory n. 1, by Davi Pontes and Wallace Ferreira. Master in Contemporary Arts Studies at UFF and PhD student in Arts at UERJ.
DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT
This is Ballroom is an insider gaze at the universe of Ballroom culture in Rio de Janeiro and its outskirts. We portray our community as a place of gathering and celebration but also a space where conflicts can be dealt with.
We filmed a ball specially held for this project, then followed the daily lives of some houses that attended the event. Structured as a multiplot narrative, the film features exclusive performances in outdoor locations and strong testimonies. To tell stories from the past, we used archival images and reenactments of foundational events of ball culture in the USA, with our cast role-playing historical characters.
Among the conflicts emerged during the shootings, there are rivalries related to racial issues and gender categories. We also discuss the complexities of translating a US-American culture to Brazilian reality, and innovations created here, like the Batekoo dance – born within the favela’s funk balls.
