Considered by many to be a follow-up to the landmark film Paris is Burning (1990), Kiki revisits New York’s still-thriving house and ball culture a generation later.

Following the lives of several young Black and Latino queer and trans individuals over the course of four years, Kiki gives primacy to the personal stories of struggles against systemic oppressions. Within the ballroom scene, the documentary’s participants find both resistance and release, as kinetic voguing spills from the piers and subway platforms to Harlem’s Rockland Palace, where the culture prospered in the 1920s.

Premiering at Sundance in 2016 and going on to win the Teddy Award at the Berlinale, Kiki was initially spearheaded by Twiggy Pucci Garçon (mother of the Opulent Haus of PUCCI), who sought out filmmaker Sara Jordenö to capture what Garçon has described as a “community portrait”.

As Trump’s second term shepherds in attacks to HIV-funding and transgender rights across the board, Kiki is a powerful ode to the potential of community-building, queer traditions, chosen family and self-expression.

Director Sara Jordenö
Year 2016
Duration 1h 34m
Language English
Cast Twiggy Pucci Garçon, Chi Chi Mizrahi, Gia Marie Love