PROM NIGHT IN KANSAS CITY International Documentary Competition

The only memory filmmaker Hali Lee retains about her high school prom is the hangover she had the next day. In her search to find the real reason why this quintessential American ritual still endures, Lee, along with co-director Peter von Ziegesar, headed home to Kansas City to hang out with today’s teens as they prepare for their “junior wedding day.”

Their first stop is average, middle-class, suburban Sherwood High School, chock full of girls anxiously anticipating their special day. Nearby, however, at the predominately African-American Westport High School, the energy is focused on Prom Queen and King, along with Janice and “Smurf’s” quest for the title. A third celebration is actually a senior banquet, held by the Center Place Restoration School-a conservative offshoot of the Mormon Church where dancing is prohibited and “modesty guidelines” for the girls’ dresses are strictly enforced. Which stands in sharp contrast to the gay and lesbian prom on the other side of town.

Lee and von Ziegesar have created a charming, bittersweet tale of an illusive ritual chronicling one radiant day with repercussions of lingering memories.