Jennie Livingston’s celebrated documentary explores the world of New York ball culture in the 1980s, introducing cinema audiences to iconic queer performers like Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza.

The importance of Paris is Burning continues to grow as the years pass. It was a rare film that focused on the lives of queer people of colour, whose charisma and humanity shines through in  their witty to-camera interviews and their fierce routines and performances.

The documentary has also become a cultural phenomenon, solidified by its referencing in shows such as RuPaul’s Drag Race, with its challenges engineered around ‘shade’, ‘reading’ and voguing. There is additional poignancy in realising how many of the wonderful trans and gay artists seen on screen have died since the film’s release. Dorian Corey, Pepper LaBeija, Octavia St. Laurent, Willi Ninja, Angie Xtravaganza, Venus Xtravaganza – all light up the screen in this invaluable film.

More information on the event can be found here.