Hussein learnt to breakdance from a soldier in Iraq as a kid, then chased his American Dream to NYC. Now a choreographer, he mistakes a shot at success for a breakthrough and loses everything, but will do whatever it takes to keep dreaming.
The Performance is a deep, intelligent documentary on how art and society shape our narratives, how our desire to be accepted and celebrated can bend our truths, and the fine line between playing the system and being played by it.
The documentary doesn't leave you with heroes or resolutions but with the question of what happens when you turn yourself into the story the world expects you to embody, and end up believing it too.
But perhaps most of all, The Performance is stunning to watch: The cinematography is intimate and profound, the kind a viewer longs to get lost in.