Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
Paris Is Burning
  • Try 7 Days Free
  • Now Showing
  • MUBI GO
  • Gift MUBI
  • Film Database
  • Notebook
  • Notebook Magazine
  • MUBI Editions
  • SHOP
  • About
  • Ways to Watch
  • Students
  • Jobs
  • Terms & Privacy
9.4
/10
22,064 Ratings

PARIS IS BURNING

Directed by Jennie Livingston
United States, 1990
Documentary, LGBTQ+, History
  • 7777 minutes

Synopsis

New York City, 1980. In Harlem’s African American and Latinx drag-ball scene, rival houses compete in fierce contests for trophies. Meanwhile, legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women—including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, and Venus Xtravaganza—reveal the rules and traditions of the scene.

Synopsis

New York City, 1980. In Harlem’s African American and Latinx drag-ball scene, rival houses compete in fierce contests for trophies. Meanwhile, legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women—including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, and Venus Xtravaganza—reveal the rules and traditions of the scene.