#LGBTQ: “Paris Is Burning” Is on the BIG SCREEN for Pride This Summer

Everyone talks about it, but have you seen it on the big screen? (I did when it came out. It was an EVENT.)

Paris Is Burning, the nearly 30 year-old documentary that gave the world their first look at the NYC ballroom scene of the 1980s, is making its return to New York on June 14. It will be at the city’s Film Forum for a two week run before a national rollout with a newly restored print.

PIB introduced us to ballroom stars like Willi Ninja (the godfather of voguing) as well as Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, Octavia St. Laurent and Venus Xtravaganza.

Corey’s on-screen lessons opened the library to the world with “reading,” “shade,” and “realness”. Along with Madonna’s Vogue (and events like Susanne Barsch’s Love Ball (also returning in June!) the film catapulted ballroom into the mainstream.

Director Jenny Livingston is a producer credit on season one of Pose (this generation’s PIB) and will direct an episode in the show’s upcoming season 2.