Directed by Jennie Livingston, Paris Is Burning documents the drag ball culture of 1980s New York, created by Black and Latina gay men and trans women who formed their own chosen families, or houses.
Through performance, voguing and “realness”, the film explores gender, race, class and survival, and has become essential viewing on how gender is performed. It has also prompted important debates about who tells these stories and who profits from them.
