Paris Is Burning
A vibrant portrait of New York’s underground drag‑ball community as they battle prejudice, poverty and the AIDS crisis while fighting for fame, family and a chance at glory on the glittering runway.
“Having a ball… Wish you were here”
Synopsis
*Paris Is Burning* is a landmark documentary that offers a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Filmed over seven years, the film provides an intimate portrait of rival fashion "houses," capturing both the fierce contests for trophies and the nurturing roles of house mothers in a community facing homophobia, transphobia, racism, the AIDS crisis, and poverty. The film features legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women, including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
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Principal cast & crew: 14
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Jonathan OppenheimShot by Paul Gibson
Box Office
1991 · Box office
Produced on a $500K budget
Production budget
$500K
Also known as
- Paris brenntde
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Cast & Crew
14 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Directors
1Producers
1Other crew
3Parents Guide
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