SLAM Cinema—Paris is Burning

Directed by Jennie Livingston, Paris Is Burning (1990) is an acclaimed documentary chronicle of New York City’s ballroom culture during the mid-to-late 1980s. The film offers an intimate look at the Black, Latino, gay, and transgender communities who built vibrant alternative family systems (“houses”) and expression through fierce dance, voguing, and runway competitions. Balancing dazzling spectacle with raw candor, it explores the deep-seated intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality, celebrating the resilience and creativity of a marginalized community while confronting the harsh realities of poverty, homophobia, transphobia, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Rated R, 1 hour 18 minutes.