Get ready to cross “into the looking glass,” as one character from “Paris Is Burning” teases. The groundbreaking doc about the New York City drag scene is coming back to theaters with a new restoration supervised by director Jennie Livingston.
“Someone of them say that we’re sick, that we’re crazy — and some of them think that we are the most gorgeous, special things on earth,” an interviewee explains in new trailer for the 1991 Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning feature.
“Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade?” the doc’s synopsis asks. “Paris Is Burning” offers a “vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene. Made over seven years, [the film] offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion ‘houses,’ from fierce contests for trophies, to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia and transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza — ‘Paris Is Burning’ brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community.”
“Paris Is Burning” opens in theaters June 14 in NY and July 5 in LA, followed by a national rollout.