Fashion Film: SAFE
Focusing on the ballroom scene in Berlin, Barcelona-based director and photographer Leo Adef's film SAFE portrays queer BPOC through their eyes, dancing and discussing gender, dance, beauty and identity. Ballroom culture originated in New York City in the early 20th century as a countercultural phenomenon where predominantly Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ attendees would dance, vogue, walk and pose in drag performances.
After Jennie Livingston's documentary Paris is Burning introduced New York City drag ball culture to the mainstream in 1990, ballroom has become a fully global movement. SAFE hones in on ballroom's Berlin cohort, as we see the dancers shun heteronormative expectations and instead embrace the inherently political act of self-love.
Focusing on the ballroom scene in Berlin, Barcelona-based director and photographer Leo Adef's film SAFE portrays queer BPOC through their eyes, dancing and discussing gender, dance, beauty and identity. Ballroom culture originated in New York City in the early 20th century as a countercultural phenomenon where predominantly Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ attendees would dance, vogue, walk and pose in drag performances.
