Mad Hot Ballroom

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2005, 105 min
EP – European premiere
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

This talented directors’ debut presents an appealing image of the frenetic atmosphere of ballroom dance lessons and the subsequent contest organised for 11-year-old pupils at New York primary schools. The preferred viewing angle – as if through the eyes of one of the participants – offers an astonishing range of all kinds of moods. From joy and cheerfulness to focused passion for the job in hand, but always with absolute sincerity. The viewer, watching this contest on the edge of his seat, follows the students’ gradualtransformation from unwilling participants of yet another school activity into fierce competitors determined to win at any price. Kids from the big city become young ladies and gentlemen, dancing the rumba, tango, merengue and swing. The director homes in on several schools and their teams as they win the individual rounds, taking them ever closer to the thrilling final. In the breaks between dance performances, she goes behind the scenes and listens intently as the children express their first views on life. 

About the director

Marilyn Agrelo has been making commercials and producing independent films for fifteen years (including Smash the Kitty, 2003). She is working on a long-term project, the documentary film Us & Them which chronicles her extended family, filmed in the USA and on Cuba. She also made the short documentary The ORBIT Story.