''Strike a Pose'' is a Belgian-Dutch documentary film, which premiered in the Panorama section of the

2016 Berlinale 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 Golden Bear#Golden Bear – Honorary Award, Honorary Golden Bear for lifetime achievement was ...

. Directed by Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, the film profiles the dancers who performed with

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 ...

on her

Blond Ambition World Tour The Blond Ambition World Tour (billed as Blond Ambition World Tour 90) was the third concert tour by American singer Madonna. It supported her fourth studio album '' Like a Prayer'' (1989), and the soundtrack album to the 1990 film ''Dick Tracy ...

in 1990."Madonna's 'Blonde Ambition' Dancers Tell Their Own Stories in New Documentary 'Strike a Pose'"
. ''

Indiewire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'', 21 January 2016.

Story

The film follows the dancers during the 25 years since the tour. Some went on to act in film, TV and stage, and all of them kept dance in their lives. Some had to deal with

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 ma ...

, drug use and homelessness. The six who appear in the film are

Kevin Stea Kevin Alexander Stea (born October 17, 1969) is an American dancer, choreographer, actor, singer, director and model. He has worked as a dancer and choreographer with a number of high-profile artists, including Madonna, Lady Gaga and Michael Ja ...

, Carlton Wilborn, Luis Xtravaganza Camacho, Jose Gutierez Xtravaganza, Salim Gauwloos and Oliver S Crumes III. One of the original seven, Gabriel Trupin, died from complications due to AIDS in 1995 and is represented in the film by his mother, Sue Trupin.

Production

The film was partially financed by the International Documentary Film Festival Forum Award, Amsterdam, and was produced by CTM Docs and The Other Room in coproduction with Serendipity Films and NTR. The film premiered at the 2016

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

where it received the second place Panorama audience award for a documentary.

Awards and nominations

* Best LGBT Film - Key West Film Festival * Best Queer Film of the Year 2016 -

Merlinka festival The International Queer Film Festival Merlinka or Merlinka Festival is an annual LGBT-themed film festival which is annually organized in Belgrade (since 2009), Sarajevo (since 2013) and Podgorica (since 2014). The Belgrade edition is organized i ...

* Nominated for Golden Athena - Athens International Film Festival * Nominated for Audience Award -

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

* Nominated for Audience Award -

References

External links

Official website
* {{Ball culture 2016 documentary films 2016 LGBT-related films 2016 films 2010s English-language films Belgian documentary films Belgian LGBT-related films Documentary films about dance Documentary films about LGBT topics Dutch documentary films Dutch LGBT-related films Cultural depictions of Madonna