The Ball
2024 WINNER - BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
2024 WINNER - INDIEPIX VISION AWARD
2024 NOMINEE - BEST DIRECTOR
2024 NOMINEE - BEST NYC FILM
2023
United States
94 mins
North American Premiere
Documentary Film Competition
| Malgorzata Saniewska | |
| Jack Mizrahi, Daniel Marracino | |
| Jack Mizrahi Gucci, Chi Chi (Mizrahi) West, Kelly (Mizrahi) West, Omari Wiles (Omari (Mizrahi) Oricci) | |
| Nudity; Discussion or Depiction of Suicide |
“The Ball” takes you on an intimate journey into the underground Ballroom culture created by marginalized LGBTQ people of color in early 1970s NYC. Thirty years after “Paris Is Burning,” the Ballroom is thriving worldwide, and “The Ball” gives you an in-depth perspective of courage in the face of adversity. Narrated by Ballroom icon Jack Mizrahi Gucci, the film features some of the Ballroom’s most influential and larger-than-life personalities, including Kelly Gucci, Omari Oricci, Chi Chi West, Meah West and Trace Gucci, opening up about family rejection and acceptance, introducing the chosen family concept, its importance to the LGBTQ community and its contribution to the entertainment industry.
About the Director
Malgorzata Saniewska is a Polish-American photographer, documentary filmmaker, and video editor. Making her home in NYC in 2003, she shot for modeling agencies, designers & NYFW. In 2011, she began her first passion project, photographing the world of NYC Burlesque, which inspired her to leap into filmmaking with her film “PlayMe Burlesque,” winning the Coney Island FF and Dona I Cinema FF. After the success of her movie, Saniewska began a career as a video editor in adverting and entertainment.
Reviews
“The Ball” sheds light on New York City’s underground ballroom scene – by Sofi Cisneros for Winter Film Awards
Interviews
Photos (Click on Photo to View)
