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''How Do I Look'' is a 2006 American documentary directed by
Wolfgang Busch Wolfgang Busch (born November 6, 1955 in Heppenheim, Germany) is a two-time Humanitarian award winner, was inducted into the Queens Business Hall of Fame for his company Art From The Heart Films, was inducted into the LGBT Hall of Fame and is a mult ...
. The film chronicles
ball culture The Ballroom Scene (also known as the Ballroom community, Ballroom culture, or just Ballroom) is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture that originated in New York City. Beginning in the late 20th century, Black and Latino ...
in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
over a ten-year period.


Overview

Wolfgang Busch began interviewing subjects from the ball circuit in the mid-1990s and continued filming for a decade. ''How Do I Look'' documents the ball culture, which began in the 1920s during the
Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
, and has since influenced mainstream artists and musicians. The film follows several ball "legends" such as
Willi Ninja William Roscoe Leake (April 12, 1961 – September 2, 2006), better known as Willi Ninja, was an American dancer and choreographer best known for his appearance in the documentary film ''Paris Is Burning (film), Paris Is Burning''.Juan Battle ...
,
Kevin UltraOmni Kevin Burrus, also known as Kevin UltraOmni (born 1958) is an American mentor, speaker, LGBTQ activist, and film producer who founded the ball culture House of Omni in 1979–which was renamed the House of UltraOmni in 1990–and has chapters ac ...
,
Octavia St. Laurent Octavia St. Laurent Mizrahi (March 16, 1964 – May 17, 2009) was an American model and AIDS educator who was active in New York City's Black and Latino ballroom community and Harlem's luxurious balls. They came to public attention after being f ...
,
Pepper LaBeija Pepper LaBeija (November 5, 1948 – May 14, 2003) was an American drag queen and fashion designer. LaBeija was known as "the last remaining queen of the Harlem drag balls". Early life and career LaBeija was born in The Bronx. While LaBeija i ...
and Jose Xtravaganza. Many of the subjects that are featured in ''How Do I Look'' were also featured in the 1990 documentary '' Paris Is Burning''. ''How Do I Look'' also explores the prejudices members of the ball culture face due to their sexuality and race. In a 2005 ''New York Times'' article, choreographer Willi Ninja commented about the mainstream society's readiness to embrace facets of ball culture while also rejecting the Ball "children" due to their sexuality:
... "If
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
does
voguing Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue" (1990), ...
, it's O.K.," he added. "But when the ball children dance, even now, people say, 'Oh, it's a bunch of crazy queens throwing themselves on the floor.'"
Other subjects speak about their attempts to forge careers in mainstream society and the effect that
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
and
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
has had on ball culture as many of the subjects featured died of AIDS during or shortly after filming was complete.


Reception


Box office

As an independent film production, ''How Do I Look'' did not receive financing or distribution from the commercial film industry. The filmmakers arranged independent screenings and distribution world-wide. As a result, the film was not made widely available in commercial movie theatres or art-houses upon its release in June 2006 during Gay Pride month. The documentary's earnings have principally come from the sale of DVD's and, more recently, from online streaming sites. Over the years, however, ''How Do I Look'' has earned commercial success by word of mouth recommendations, its numerous appearances in film festivals, and from its goodstanding relationship with the Ball community.


Critical response

Prior to its release in 2006, early screenings of ''How Do I Look'' garnered prominent media mentions in the ''Village Voice'', the ''New York Post,'' and the ''New York Times''. Early on, ''How Do I Look'' was noted as an "awareness program," alluding to the film's noble aspects to empower members of the Ballroom community. The media attention also focused on the African-American and Latino gay subculture, who were known to go to lengths to keep their homosexuality "under wraps," a situation referred to as being on the ''down low.'' Often, the film's numerous screenings in academic settings were reported. In the years following its release, ''How Do I Look'' has repeatedly been the subject of reports in the foreign press, including in the French public radio channel, France Inter. The documentary was noted for its goal of empowering the LGBTQ Ballroom community, in particular following the AIDS pandemic, as was reported in Italian ''Vogue''. In Spanish ''Vanity Fair'', the documentary was noted for having given new life to the vogue (dance) artistic impression, in particular by having added social, racial, and political conscience to the Ballroom community.


Accolades

Because ''How Do I Look'' was produced by and for the Ballroom community, it has been praised for having the coöperation of the Ball community in its production and for being faithful to its subject matter. The documentary has been named to several must-watch lists by the LGBTQ media. Them, the LGBTQ publication owned by Conde Naste, short-listed ''How Do I Look'' in its review of Ballroom history. Out magazine listed ''How Do I Look'' amongst six films about the Ballrooms and voguing. Mainstream culture publications, like W magazine, have also short-listed ''How Do I Look'' as a must-see "pride" film for LGBTQ audiences. The revealing interviews documented in ''How Do I Look'' have been lauded, in retrospect, for having been ahead of their time. In a review of "Transgender Sex Work and Society," which has been described as the definitive book about transgender sex work, a transgender star of ''How Do I Look'' was noted for her frank talk about transgender sex work.


Controversies

''How Do I Look'' began filming in the wake of accusations that the filmmaker behind ''Paris Is Burning'' had exploited members of the Ballroom community during the making of that film. The accused exploitation was the inspiration for ''How Do I Look'', said co-assistant director Kevin Omni. In the years since ''How Do I Look'' was released, the documentary has been mentioned by many as providing balance to and/or a follow-up or sequel of ''Paris Is Burning''. Two of the co-assistant directors of the film were members of the Ballroom community, Kevin Omni and Luna Khan. In the media, Omni has also noted that the film aimed to create "possibilities" for members of the Ballroom community.


Production notes

''How Do I Look'' was filmed in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. It premiered at the NewFest Film Festival in New York City in June 2006. The assistant directors were
Kevin Burrus Kevin Burrus, also known as Kevin UltraOmni (born 1958) is an American mentor, speaker, LGBTQ activist, and film producer who founded the ball culture House of Omni in 1979–which was renamed the House of UltraOmni in 1990–and has chapters ac ...
and Luna Khan.


Home media

''How Do I Look'' was released on Region 1 DVD in the United States.


References


External links

* * {{Ball culture, state=collapsed 2006 films 2006 in LGBT history 2006 documentary films American documentary films LGBT African-American culture American independent films Documentary films about HIV/AIDS Documentary films about ball culture Films about fashion Films shot in New York City 2006 LGBT-related films Documentary films about dance 2000s English-language films HIV/AIDS in American films 2000s American films