Screening: Paris is Burning

Paris is Burning is a documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston that explores issues of race, class, and gender in the context of the New York City drag balls of the 1980s. This intimate and controversial film immerses the viewer in a subculture where contestants compete in categories that often skew and mimic hetero normative notions of race and gender. Regarding the film, philosopher Judith Butler questions whether, "parodying the dominant norms is enough to displace them... whether the denaturalization of gender cannot be the very vehicle for a reconsolidation of hegemonic norms”. This film will feature an introduction by Seattle filmmaker Tiffany Gannon.