Paris Is Burning
1990 · Movie · R · 78 min · ★ 8.0 · 90% critics
Paris Is Burning documents 1980s New York Harlem ballroom culture through years of life inside rival fashion “houses.” It follows voguing contests and “throwing shade,” while highlighting community bonds amid discrimination, poverty, and the AIDS crisis.
Also known as The Children Are · To Be Real
Where to watch
Watch free on Shout! Factory TV, Plex and Tubi — also streaming on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel.
1 hour to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 1990
- Release date
- 1991-03-13
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 78 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 90/100
- TMDB rating
- 8.0/10 (546 votes)
- Budget
- $500,000
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want an intimate look at 1980s LGBTQ ballroom culture, voguing, and competitive “houses,” with both joy and hard realities; Not for you if you prefer light, purely celebratory docs without confronting homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, or poverty.
Pros: vivid ballroom world; heartfelt found-family focus; engrossing subculture history | Cons: occasionally repetitive flow; heavy, difficult themes; structure can feel overstuffed
Themes
- new york city
- transvestism
- aids
- homophobia
- drag queen
- male homosexuality
- transsexual
- subculture
- shoplifting
- lgbt
- drag
- woman director
- +5 more
Awards & recognition
- Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize — Best Documentary · 1991
Cast & crew
Pepper LaBeija
as Self
Octavia St. Laurent
as Self
Venus Xtravaganza
as Self
Dorian Corey
as Self
Willi Ninja
as Self
Paris Dupree
as Self
Freddie Pendavis
as Self
- SP
Sol Williams Pendavis
as Self
Junior LaBeija
as Self
Angie Xtravaganza
as Self
Directed by Jennie Livingston