Paris is Burning: Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive
The archive collaborated with The Sundance Institute and Outfest in 2015 to restore the film
Jennie Livingston’s renowned documentary of the late-‘80s New York drag ball scene continues to have an incredible social and political impact on audiences. The dreams and aspirations of the African American and Latino protagonists are affectionately portrayed by a nonjudgmental lens that also frankly represents the realities of their societal repression. In spite of the socio-political barriers, there is a bittersweet hopefulness to this film that is very much symptomatic of what the trans community continues to face many decades later. The UCLA Film & Television Archive staff worked extensively with Criterion on this project. The team pulled, packed, and shipped several hundred of the outtake reels to Criterion’s New York facility so they could be scanned and curated by director Jennie Livingston in conjunction with the Criterion production team. These new scans will be preserved in the Outfest UCLA Legacy Project Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Given the seemingly insurmountable effort to secure much-needed preservation-related resources, Criterion, Outfest, Sundance, and UCLA constituents joined forces to create a PARIS IS BURNING preservation community. Our combined efforts not only preserved this landmark film, but also importantly honored the bravery, resilience, and inner strength of the film’s remarkable heroes. This community’s courage under insurmountable odds is a lesson we can all learn from during these difficult times.
Watch PARS IS BURNING on Netflix or order the Criterion blu-ray release, including director-approved special edition features.
Read a Q&A with PARIS IS BURNING director Jennie Livingston on the Hyperallergic website.
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