How Do I Look

About How Do I Look

How Do I Look is a 2006 documentary film directed by Wolfgang Busch about Ball competitions (see also ball culture). According to a 2005 article published by The New York Times, the director spent a decade collecting footage to create How Do I Look. This 2006 documentary is a journalistic alternative to a 1990 documentary about the Ball community entitled Paris Is Burning.

How Do I Look is a "showcase" of the talent of the Ball community. It follows several famous artists, such as Willi Ninja, Kevin Ultra-Omni, Octavia St. Laurent and Jose Xtravaganza. The film interviews its artists about their experiences with Ball competitions and the challenges faced by the Ball community. Among the issues this community confronts are persistent social misconception, drug use, sex work, acceptance of sexuality and gender, and HIV/AIDS. This film's content addresses these issues. In a 2000 article in The Village Voice, noted fashion writer Guy Trebay wrote that the cultural impression was that "the world of the balls was transitory."

In the 2005 New York Times article, one of the stars of How Do I Look commented about the mainstream's lack of acceptance of Ball children and their creative forms of dancing.