by Frank
Leon Roberts
How Do I Look
www.howdoilooknyc.org,
Director: Wolfgang Busch
Assistant Directors: Luna Khan, Kevin Omni
This week German born director Wolfgang Busch releases his long-awaited, 11-year-in-the-making, documentary "sequel" to the controversial 1991 film "Paris Is Burning." The new film, "How Do I Look" has no official affiliation with Jennifer Livingston's camp, but picks up where "Livingston left off", and fills in all the holes the previous film glossed over. The new documentary, which Busch began shooting in 1995, is the most comprehensive filmic documentation of the ballroom scene ever produced.
The film features rare interviews with the late Pepper Labeija (the original and iconic mother of the House of Labeija) as well as a parade of other illustrious ballroom celebrities such as Mother Carmen Xtravaganza (now living in exile in Spain), Marcel Christian, Willi Ninja, Patricia Fields, Jack Mizrahi, Tyra Allure (now Mother of the House of Mugler) and hundreds more. The soundtrack features beats by Harmonica Sunbeam and Kevin Aviance, among others.
"How Do I Look", which I first brought to NYU in the spring of 2003, has been shown in bits and pieces over the years at various film festivals and universities across the country. The completed documentary is now available via mail order at www.howdoilooknyc.org or at select video stores in Manhattan under "new releases" (check out "Kim's Video Store" on Christopher Street).
Having worked closely with the film and having viewed it several times, I'd recommend this film much more highly over Livingston's Paris Is Burning. "How Do I Look" features more gripping live action from the balls (think "Rize" by David LaChapelle) and gives a more accurate explication of what the contemporary ballroom scene in New York City looks and feels like.
