Source: Some information on this page may have been sourced as part of the 2023 Wikimedia Australia Partnership Projects grant, with the purpose of improving and expanding the use of Wikidata on our website. Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Read more about this project here.
Paris is Burning is the result of the five years film-maker Jennie Livingston spent amongst New York City’s black and Hispanic transvestite community. Often poor and homeless the young gay men and drag queens form “houses” which conduct dances and balls dedicated to vogueing: the celebration of fashion, style and beauty. This is a fascinating documentary which confronts the viewer with a blurring of traditional notions of gender and sexuality and which also celebrates sexual, ethnic and racial diversity and difference. Features a great soundtrack of house and funk music. Winner of Best Documentary at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at .
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
303223
Language
English
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Fashion
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → African Americans
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Hispanic Americans
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → New York (N.Y.)
Crafts & Visual Arts → Fashion
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → African Americans
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Hispanic Americans
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Homelessness
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Transvestites
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Fashion
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)