"How Do I Look" documentary to be featured in the 2007 New York AIDS Film Festival

Although only in its fifth year, the New York AIDS Film Festival has developed a high standard of acknowledging the importance of education and empowerment in the arts. In 2004, Meryl Streep presented the Festival’s highest honor to HBO’s Angels in America director, Mike Nichols, in recognition for his film about the heartbreak of HIV/AIDS. In 2006, the New York AIDS Film Festival commemorated the 25th Anniversary of the first diagnosed case of AIDS.

Now, in connection with the Fifth Annual New York AIDS Film Festival, New York University is hosting a special World AIDS Day screening of How Do I Look directed by Wolfgang Busch, on Saturday, December 1, 2007. A Q&A session with the documentary’s director will follow the screening.

How Do I Look is an award-winning documentary about the Harlem “Ball” community. This documentary feature originated as a community empowerment project for dancers and artists in the Ball community; it was directed by Wolfgang Busch in collaboration with assistant directors from the “Ball” community: Kevin Omni and Luna Khan. Since its early production, How Do I Look has been screened as a work-in-progress film at many prestigious American universities, such as Yale University, New York University, and Sarah Lawrence College, as part of academic curricula and student-run programs. Because the “Ball” community has been hit hard by the AIDS pandemic, from the outset Mr. Busch included in the final version of How Do I Look important messages from dancers and artists about HIV/AIDS prevention and care. As part of the New York AIDS Film Festival, a special 10-minute segment will be screened from How Do I Look, addressing HIV/AIDS. Featured in the HIV excerpt from the How Do I Look documentary are: Octavia St. Laurent, Kevin Omni, Jose Xtravaganza, Carmen Xtravaganza, Harmonica Sunbeam, Luna Khan, Kevin Aviance, Kenny Ebony, Darryck LaBeija, and Marcel Christian. Unfortunately, the “Ball” community has been devastated by the AIDS pandemic, resulting in the loss of the community’s leadership. As a community, the dancers and artists from the “Ball” scene continue to fight an uphill battle for artistic and social empowerment.

The free screening of How Do I Look will take place on Saturday, December 1, 2007, from 11 am to 12 pm at New York University at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, 53 Washington Square South, New York City. Admission to attend this special screening is free. Complimentary refreshments will be served.

For more information, please contact the director Wolfgang Busch at: Art From The Heart Films, 718-726-0831 or WolfgangBusch@earthlink.net, www.HowDoILookNYC.org.

Founded in 2003 by Suzanne Engo, the New York AIDS Film Festival (NYAFF) provides a series of HIV- and AIDS-related film screenings, panel discussions, and special events. At the time of its launch, Ms. Engo said, “I know that the media can be used as a tool for social change.” Its mission is to provide the public with information about the disease by sponsoring the screenings of visual media. The New York AIDS Film Festival features diverse works, which serve as educational material about HIV/AIDS. These programs aim to promote social action in the fight against the global AIDS pandemic. Besides featuring noteworthy visual media by filmmakers and AIDS activists, the Festival also creates events to raise money for organizations whose missions include education and social activism through film.

"How Do I Look"Directed by Wolfgang Busch

A&U Magazine
December 2006

Have a Ball!
Wolfgang Busch, Director and Producer of
How Do I Look, Showcases the
Ball Community and its HIV Outreach

by Alina Oswald

From Madonna's "Vogue" video to films like Paris is Burning, the Harlem ballroom community has always been a playground where young, talented gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people can build their self-esteem by competing in categories like fashion or dance as an art form. The "illusion of a runway" that ball events provide for performing members don't only allow them to live out their fantasies, but also to freely express themselves artistically. Organized in "houses" with an (usually) elected "mother" and "father," the ballroom (or ball) community looks after its members and nurtures their talents.

"Some houses are like gangs," artistic activist Wolfgang Busch explains during our phone interview about his new film on the New York City ball community, "in the bad sense." Paris is Burning, a film about the house with the same name, has been criticized as exploiting these negative aspects of the ball community. That's why, in his new documentary, German-American filmmaker Wolfgang Busch offers a fresh image of the ball community, concentrating on houses that make a positive difference in the lives of their members. How Do I Look, which took ten years to produce filming and interviewing community members at various ball events, focuses on educating the upcoming "ball" generation in the positive assets of houses dedicated to helping their members to get an education and a job. These houses also organize balls specifically dealing with HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and outreach. How Do I Look also focuses on members of the ball community who, while socially marginalized by racism, perform in the balls for fashion and artistic awards, thus creating their own arenas of standards and success. Many of them, like Tracy Africa, Willi Ninja, or Jose Xtravaganza took their runway walks to a professional level.

"What I respect so much about the ball community is its inclusiveness," he says, commenting on what he considers its most important quality. "No matter if you work on Fourteenth Street or as a fashion designer or [if you are a] celebrity, everybody can walk a ball: People of all shapes and forms have a place to compete."

Busch takes the knowledge that the ball community is all about fashion and glamour and how its members look a step further in his documentary, using How Do I Look to show how ball community members look on the inside, because it's obvious that they look "fabulous" on the outside.

Looks are important for one's self-esteem, especially for male-to-female transsexuals who transition and sometimes do not look as "feminine" as they would like. For them it's important to get accepted in real life, in their community. So, being part of various ball events and competing for various awards pull them through the hard times.

Wolfgang Busch's first contact with the ball community was an actual ball at a club called Tracks, in 1987. Yet it wasn't until 1989 through a fundraiser for the Gay Games in Vancouver, when he met assistant director and lifetime achiever in the ball community, Kevin Omni.

As a cultural gay activist, Busch has dedicated his life to empower LGBT artists. He plans a meeting with Al Sharpton and Russell Simmons, both very outspoken in the arts and its role in the political arena because the artistic community is "the most powerful community on the planet," because the "stars," when they unite, can determine major changes in most aspects of our life.

When it comes to HIV/AIDS, the ball community was maybe the most hit by the pandemic. In 1998 the ball community lost Fila Omni to AIDS. Since 2001, the ball community has also lost Gerald Dupree Labeija, Kenny Ebody, Eriq Christian Bazaar, and Marcel Christian to AIDS, and Pepper Labeija to diabetes.

"I think [that's] a scary statistic. That's a really alarming number," Wolfgang Busch comments. That's the reason why he's focusing on houses and balls that make HIV/AIDS prevention, education and awareness their priority.

For more information about How Do I Look or to contact director Wolfgang Busch, log on to www.howdoilooknyc.org.