Featuring Dorian Corey, Pepper Labeija, Venus Xtravaganza, Octavia Saint Laurent, Willi Ninja, Kim Pendavis, Freddie Pendavis, Andre Christian, Paris Dupree. Title and credits from screen. Originally released as a motion picture in 1990. 2K digital restoration supervised by director Jennie Livingston. Special features: commentary soundtrack from 2005, featuring Jennie Livingston, ball community members Freddie Pendavis and Willi Ninja, and film editor Jonathan Oppenheim ; never-before-seen outtakes ; new conversation between Jennie Livingston, ball community members Sol Pendavis and Freddie Pendavis, and filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris ; episodes of The Joan River show from 1991, featuring Livingston and ball community members Dorian Corey, Pepper LaBeija, Freddie Pendavis, and Ninja; Giselle Xtravaganza, a Latinx trans woman talks about the significance of Paris is burning; trailers; in booklet, an essay by filmmaker Michelle Parkerson and a 1991 review by poet Essex Hemphill.
Summary:
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 City₂s African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, it offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion ₁houses,₂ from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.