Friday, Sept 6 / 21:00 / GRĂDINA CU FILME – CINEMA & MORE
Sunday, Sept 8 / 21:00 / CinÉma Elvire Popesco

About the film

Documentary, 92’, 2024, Brazil
Directed by: Juru & Vitã

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.