''Kiki'' is an American-Swedish co-produced

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

, released in 2016."'Kiki': Sundance Review"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', January 26, 2016. It takes place 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 focuses on the "drag and

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), ...

scene ndsurveys the lives of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

youth of color at a time when

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

and

trans rights A transgender person is someone whose gender identity is inconsistent or not culturally associated with the sex they were assigned at birth and also with the gender role that is associated with that sex. They may have, or may intend to establi ...

are making front-page headlines". The film was directed by Sara Jordenö and considered an unofficial sequel to the influential 1990 film '' Paris Is Burning'',"This 'Kiki' Clip Picks Up Where 'Paris Is Burning' Left Off"
''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', January 22, 2016. the film profiles several young LGBT people of colour participating in contemporary LGBT African American

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 ...

. The film premiered on January 26, 2016 at the

2016 Sundance Film Festival The 2016 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 21 to January 31, 2016. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 2, 2015. The opening night film was ''Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You'', directed by Heidi Ew ...

. It was subsequently screened at the

66th Berlin International Film Festival The 66th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2016, with American actress Meryl Streep as the President of the Jury. The Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was presented to German cinematographer Michael ...

, where it won a

Teddy Award The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival (the Berlinale). In the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay a ...

as the best LGBT-related documentary film. Jordenö was invited to create the film by Twiggy Pucci Garçon, a leader in the kiki community in New York. She cowrote the film with them. Jordenö was able to film her subjects over the course of several years. She was able to follow two of the film's subjects Gia Marie Love and Izana Vidal as they went through their own transitions as trans women.

''Kiki'' and ''Paris is Burning''

Movie critics such as Fionnuala Halligan, Glenn Kenny, Justin Chang, Rhienna Guedry, Tre'vell Anderson and Hans Pedersen regard ''Kiki'' as a sequel to '' Paris Is Burning'' because they both cover similar topics such as

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

HIV/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 ...

, and violence against

youth.Pedersen, Hans. "Kiki." ''Echo Magazine'', vol. 28, no. 7, Apr. 2017, p. 96.KENNY, GLENN. "A Subculture Still Striking a Fierce Pose." ''New York Times'', vol. 166, no. 57523, 3/1/2017, p. C6.Halligan, Fionnuala. "'Kiki': Berlin Review." ''Screen International'', 2016, pp. 1''.'' Tre'vell Anderson's review mentions how both movies also follow

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

people of color as they traverse the drag, genderqueer and

scenes in New York along with their daily lives.Anderson, Tre'vell. "AT THE MOVIES; from 'Paris' to an Integral N.Y. Circle." ''Los Angeles Times'', February 24, 2017''. The drag and ball scene are venues in which many queer and transgender people of color can find community as well as express themselves.GUEDRY, RHIENNA. "KIKI." ''Bitch Magazine: Feminist Response to Pop Culture'', no. 71, Summer2016, pp. 70-71. Unlike the movie ''Paris is Burning'', ''Kiki'' is more intertwined with

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

and education as it focuses more on people between the ages of 13 and 24 instead of older queer and transgender individuals. The issues that transgender youth of color face are given more screen time than in ''Paris is Burning'' as well.Chang, Justin (February 24, 2017). "Review: 'Kiki' is an energetic, affectionate portrait of New York's LGBT ballroom scene". ''Los Angeles Times''. Pedersen mentions in his review that throughout ''Kiki'', the struggle that many transgender people of color faced was trying to start and continue their

hormone replacement therapy Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...

as well as

sex work Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volunt ...

, which is something ''Paris is Burning'' did not focus on. ''Kiki'' also depicts what it is like for LGBT youth of color to experience

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

. When it comes to the LGBT neighborhoods, there is some mention of police officers that patrol the neighborhood engaging in

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

. Fionnuala Halligan states in their review that many of the youth in the film, as a result of the discrimination that they face from society, have to navigate taking part in sex work as a means to support themselves. This is also where the ballroom and drag scenes come into play as many of these youths use these avenues to claim space that otherwise would be denied to them. As Halligan states within their review, ''Kiki'' is a film that is glamorous, but also educates its audience and depicts the very serious realities that many LGBT youth face.

HIV/AIDS activism in ''Kiki''

Around 30 years after the

AIDS Crisis The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexu ...

, Glenn Kenny thinks that many people believe the situation is handled, but in ''Kiki'', the impact of HIV/AIDS is still seen within the LGBT community. Within the kiki scene, there is a family-like connection between the people impacted by HIV/AIDS, as the rest of the world is unaware of contemporary effects of these diseases. The foundation of the kiki scene is to help educate at-risk LGBT youth about HIV/AIDS through various means. Twiggy Pucci Garçon, Gia Marie Love, and Chi Chi Mizrahi are well-known leaders in the kiki scene and are strong advocates for HIV and STI prevention, which is depicted in the film. All three work with programs or organizations, such as Cyndi Lauper's

True Colors Fund True Colors United (formerly True Colors Fund) is an American nonprofit organization addressing the issue of youth homelessness in the United States. Founded in 2008 by Cyndi Lauper, the organization focuses on the unique experiences of lesbian, ...

, to help spread awareness about HIV and STI prevention, as shown in the film. One of the major reasons for including HIV/AIDS activism within the kiki scene and the movie is to help people understand and complicate the stigma surrounding blackness and queerness, as many of the members of the kiki scene are young, black people. Garçon mentions how they have personally lost 25 people who they were close to due to AIDS, explaining why HIV/AIDS activism is so important to them and the kiki scene. There is a strong focus on community education within the film to help show the youth that this tight knit community cares for them and wants to keep them safe. The film discusses how education and activism can be difficult considering all of the negative stigma around being LGBT identified, black, young, and HIV positive. Gia Marie Love, who identifies as trans, also explains how there is a lack of focus on HIV and STI prevention among the trans community.

References

External links

* {{Teddy Award for Best Documentary Film 2016 films American documentary films American LGBT-related films Swedish documentary films Swedish LGBT-related films 2016 LGBT-related films African-American LGBT-related films African-American films Documentary films about ball culture 2016 documentary films Documentary films about race and ethnicity in the United States Documentary films about New York City Films shot in New York City Transgender-related documentary films Films about trans women Drag (clothing)-related films Documentary films about dance 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s Swedish films

''Kiki'' and ''Paris is Burning''

HIV/AIDS activism in ''Kiki''

See also

References

External links