,/
Rumba nih Bronx
‘I DON'T WANT TO HIT PEOPLE OVER THE HEAD - I JUST WANT TO GIVE THEM A TASTE
MARILYN AGRELO and AMY SEWELL, the women behind a new documentary take Paul Dale by the hand and explain why the kids are alright for dancing.
l‘eel like I've just been mauled by a couple ol Yankie yummy tnttmtnies. ‘l loye your hone necklace] they say in unison. I thank thetn. go red. sit down and fiddle with my tape recorder. Director N'larilyn Agrelo and producer/writer Amy Sewell are on their yery own ‘Mm/ llut Ballroom Ferris wheel' and they seetn to he loying eyery moment of it. Both are somewhere in their late 3(ls/early 40s. Agrelo is all swarthy (‘uhan American warmth. proud of her heritage (‘my cousin. Raul Rodriguez. is a cinematographet‘. you know. In (‘uhan cinema he is a giant.’ she says at one point) while Sewell has tttore of a witty. waspy urhanite thing going on. Between them they haye tnade an open-hearted. hopelessly addictiye and l’rankly wonderful documentary. By following three school hallroom dancing classes in New York (‘ity l'rom practise sessions to a citywide competition. they haye created an inspiring look into the lives of a hunch of very ethnically tnixed ll-year—old kids. (‘oming on like a particularly hi/arrc segment in .S'esmne Street. Mm! Hot Ital/room makes one realise the power of the equalising force of ballroom dancing. And to think it all began as newspaper article. Sewell explains: ‘I was writittg for this local commtmity newspaper and the editor wanted a l5()() word article on these dancing classes in the schools. I wrote Silllllll words. I knew it would he hetter told visually from the \et'y first day. So I eyentually got it down to 3500 words but the article didn‘t do it justice. I was describing things that couldn‘t he written. so I said to Marilyn. “You gotta cotne and see this. she catne and . . .'
42 THE LIST l/ NU. l {)w; Willi)
Agt'elo interrupts Sewell’s flow with the ease of an old friend. ‘We started pre-production about a month later. The course was going to start up again the following l’ehruary. It was now August so we had six months to ligure it out. The film had a set schedule. We had to start with the first dance class as we had decided to open the film up and contrast a few dill‘erent groups ittstead ol' l‘ollowing one.’
So how did they choose which schools to locus in on'.’ ‘It was more obvious the schools we weren’t going to choose.‘ says Marilyn. smiling sweetly. ‘lr‘or sonte reason it‘s sort ol‘ intangihle and hard to describe some schoolsjust didn‘t interest as so much. It felt like they didn’t have the spark that was interesting to us.'
llaying cost these two working mums something approaching $600,000 to make. .llur/ Hot Ital/mom has hrought in box ol‘lice receipts of $8 million in the States. which for a documentary is extraordinary. (‘an they decant that l‘ormula'.’ Alter thinking for a moment. Sewell begins to enthuse: ‘Marilyn said something to the very early on that I loved you know. in the States eyerything is 24/7 and oyer the top and Wal-Mart and this and that and you‘re always being homharded and she turned around and said. "Amy. I don't want to hit people over the head. you ktlow'.’ I want to giye people
jttst a taste." 'l'hat appealed to the because it lets people
tise their imaginations. you know. It's whatever you take out ol it. As for tne I look at those kids and I‘m still tilled with wonder.‘
Mad Hot Ballroom is on selected release from Fri 25 Nov. See review, page 43.
Hit >l<
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
* Godzilla Ishiro Honda's 1954 monster movie classic is restored to its former glory (after being raped by American distributors) for its first ever Scottish release. This dark anti- nuclear parable should not be missed. See review, page 45. GFT, Glasgow (Wed 23—Sun 27 Nov only).
* Factotum Beautifully judged adaptation of one of Charles Bukowski’s 'Henry Chinaski' novels. Matt Dillon and Lili Taylor give career best performances. See feature. page 24, and review, page 45. Selected release (from Fri 78 Nov).
* Saraband Bergman bows out with this astonishingly exasperating but excellent sequel to his 1973 film Scenes From a Marriage. See review, page 44. Cameo, Edinburgh (from Fri 78 Nov).
* Mad Hot Ballroom Fantastically engrossing documentary about a bunch of 1 1-year—old New Yorkers and a whole lot of ballroom dancing. See preview. left and review. page 43. Selected release (from Fri 25 Nov).
* Sophie Scholl: The Final Days Impressive low budget German film based on found transcripts about the arrest and execution of anti-Nazi martyr Scholl. See review. page 45. Cinewor/d Renfrew Street, Glasgow (from Fri 78 Nov).
3!: Thundercrack! One of the most deranged films ever made is being resurrected for the fabulous Psychotronic Cinema season. Ostensibly a gothic house thriller. this practically defines the phrase ‘cult cinema'. Miss at your peril. Filmhouse, Edinburgh (Thu 24 Nov only).
=l< Safety Last/The General Fantastic silent double bill. Part of Glasgow Silents. GFI', Glasgow (Sun 20 Nov only).
3!! Hearts and Minds Incomparable 1974 documentary about America's involvement in Vietnam gets its first UK DVD release. See interview. page 46. 0th Mon 21 Nov (Metrodome).