Paris is Burning

In-Person Screening

Paris is Burning

Screening June 17, 2022

“Paris Is Burning still provides a vision of vibrant resistance—a fierce proclamation that queer and trans lives matter, now as they did then.” – Michelle Parkerson, Criterion

“In so many ways this is a story about the privileges of identity, and the ways that those excluded from those privileges have found to question and subvert them.” – K. Austin Collins, Vanity Fair

Celebrate Pride Month with the legendary documentary depicting 1980s New York City ball-walkers in all their glory. It’s queer reality. It’s trans reality. It’s human reality.

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–Paris Is Burning brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community.

Jennie Livingston, USA, 1990, 76 mins.

Festivals, Awards, & Nominations

Winner – Best Documentary, Berlin International Film Festival 1991
Winner – Grand Jury Prize – Documentary, Sundance Film Festival 1991
Winner – Open Palm Award, Gotham Awards 1991

DONATING PROCEEDS

In honor of Pride Month, all net proceeds from this screening will be donated to Chicago’s Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, the largest queer circulating library in the Midwestern United States.

Founded in 1981, Gerber/Hart’s collections focus on the culture and history of LGBTQ peoples and additional marginalized sexual and gender minorities in Chicago and the Midwest. Open to all, Gerber/Hart serves these communities by collecting, preserving, and making accessible collection items of individuals, organizations, and businesses, as well as publicly distributed items. Additionally, Gerber/Hart provides programming and exhibitions related to items in its collections and on other topics in LGBTQ history and culture.