Paris is Burning
It’s now 25-years since Jennie Livingstone’s ground-breaking film about the New York drag ball scene of the late 1980s was released. Its ethnographic style of documentary film making produced a multi-levelled exploration of a subculture in African American and Latino cultures.
Through candid one-on-one interviews the film offers insight into the lives and struggles of its participants: racism, homophobia, transphobia, HIV and poverty as well as the strength, pride, and humour they maintain to survive in a "rich, white world."
Paris Is Burning is a fascinating look at the elaborately structured ball scene that launched voguing, while Madonna was still a Material Girl. 25 years on, what does the film tell us about the history of gay and trans identities and cultures that can help us understand ourselves today?
Also in the series:
- Monday 8th - Global LGBTI Rights & the Right to Health
- Thursday 11th – Gender Identities & Public Health
- Tuesday 16th – What is the best sex with the least harm?
- Tuesday 23rd – ‘The Circle’ as part of the Out on Tuesday film series
- Thursday 25th – Why do LGBT Communities take so many drugs?
Admission