Willi Ninja
Acting
Biography
Willi Ninja, was an American dancer and choreographer best known for his appearance in the documentary film Paris Is Burning.
Born: April 12, 1961
Place of Birth: New Rochelle, New York, USA
Known For
Paris Is Burning
Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, PARIS IS BURNING offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.
PRIDE: To Be Seen - A Soul of a Nation Presentation
It’s the resilience and love that keeps this community marching to the beat of its own drum; each generation redefining what it means to be queer and to be seen.
Tongues Untied
Marlon Riggs, with assistance from other gay Black men, especially poet Essex Hemphill, celebrates Black men loving Black men as a revolutionary act. The film intercuts footage of Hemphill reciting his poetry, Riggs telling the story of his growing up, scenes of men in social intercourse and dance, and various comic riffs, including a visit to the "Institute of Snap!thology," where men take lessons in how to snap their fingers: the sling snap, the point snap, the diva snap.
House of Trés
A quickfire portrait of the New York City ballroom scene in the ‘80s.
Kiki
25 years after Paris is Burning, we dive back into the fierce world of voguing battles in the Kiki scene of New York City, where competition between Houses demands leadership, painstaking practice, and performances on point. A film collaboration between Kiki gatekeeper, Twiggy Pucci Garçon, and Swedish filmmaker Sara Jordenö, we’re granted exclusive access into this high stakes world, where tough competitions act as a gateway into the daily lives of LGBTQ youth of color in NYC. The new generation of ballroom youth use the motto, “Not About us Without Us”. Twiggy and Sara’s insider-outsider approach to their stories breathes fresh life into the representation of a marginalized community who demand visibility and real political power.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.
Check Your Body at the Door
Check Your Body At The Door is a documentary film about some remarkable underground house dancers in NYC during the golden decade of the 1990s. It follows master free-stylists into the clubs, their jobs, and their everyday lives. Filmed in the studio as well, the dancers’ virtuosic moves are brilliantly revealed in silhouette or light pools. In their words they describe the importance of clubbing, why they dance, how they dance, and what it means.
How Do I Look
The icons from the "Harlem Drag Balls" are influencing the biggest stars in pop culture for decades and they are telling their untold stories of their time. The creative lifestyle, fierceness and fabulousness, is the ultimate challenge in fashion, on the runway and dance floor for recognition and fame. Wolfgang Busch is capturing the creative way society's disenfranchised express themselves through movement and creativity.
Anthem
A collage of erotic images and a call to arms, with a feverish hip-hop energy that celebrates the lives of African American men.
Love is in the Legend
A documentary relating to a video of the Grand Street Ball of 1988, held by Patricia Field and the House of Field. The film explores the relationships and connections between the music and culture of the Paradise Garage with the ball culture of the mid 1980's, driven by the participants' need to belong, each working, dancing, and surviving together despite the epic sweep of larger societal conflicts of the time. They are featured in present day interviews, along side 1980's archival photography and film, and iconic music representative of the theme, bridging this piece of history to the present day by the passion that lives on.
Filmography
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (Archive Footage)
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Lui-même