Paris Is Burning

While the cases of AIDS/HIV and the term "gay plague" were arising in the late 80's and 90's, Paris is Burning was exactly what the world needed under the aftermath of Reagan's presidency. This documentary unravales the intracacy of the New York ballroom culture : Jennie Livingston and her team do an amazing job at putting light (both literally and figuratively) on each of their stakeholders by clearly letting them share their thoughts without not once trying to influence their Truths. Livingston sat patiently and offered her camera as an attentive ear; each actor had their own experiences of blackness and queerness (specially the divergences in their takes on transness) and this documentary made a great job at not invalidating any experiences but rather portraying a grand tapestry of facts that could coexist within the same discourse. Although this film is not the only documentary made on this subject at that time, it still upholds a special place in every queer person's heart to this date. Paris is Burning is a beautiful love letter to the ballroom circuit and its irrevocable intersectionality with blackness and queerness.