Which 1990 documentary explores the New York City drag ball culture of the 1980s?

The 1990 documentary exploring New York City’s 1980s drag-ball culture is Paris Is Burning.

Directed by Jennie Livingston, the film was shot over roughly seven years and focuses on Black and Latino LGBTQ+ communities participating in ballroom competitions. Contestants “walk” in themed categories, competing for trophies while performing ideas of glamour, gender, class, and “realness.”

The documentary also introduces the house system: chosen families led by house mothers who support younger members facing rejection, poverty, racism, homophobia, or homelessness. Its subjects include Dorian Corey, Pepper LaBeija, Venus Xtravaganza, Octavia St. Laurent, and dancer Willi Ninja.

A common mix-up is treating Paris Is Burning as simply a film about drag or voguing. It also examines survival, identity, AIDS, violence, and the unequal access to fame and security in mainstream society. The film helped bring ballroom vocabulary and voguing to wider attention, though critics have debated its representation and the filmmaker’s outsider perspective.