Jennie Livingston Movies
Filmmaker Jennie Livingston made the independent feature-length documentary Paris Is Burning (1990) a fascinating and moving look into the world of New York African-American and Latino homosexuals who express their feelings, about being forced to live on the fringe of society, by holding elaborately staged drag balls and "vogue," a stylized dance rivalry. The film earned "Best Documentary" awards at the Sundance Festival and from the Los Angeles Film Critics. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 2006
- Add Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to QueueAdd Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema to top of Queue
Gay, lesbian, and transgender filmmakers, actors, and critics explore the history of queer cinema in this made-for-cable documentary. Eschewing any overarching narration, co-directors Lesli Klainberg and Lisa Ades illustrate archival footage and film clips with dozens of interviews. They also provide timelines and factoids to punctuate the discussion of specific eras. Although the background material and the interviewees allude to the subtext of Hollywood classics, the bounty of world cinema, and the history of experimental film, the focus remains squarely on the American independent movement, from the 1960s underground through the New Queer Cinema of the early '90s to the post-Brokeback Mountain landscape of 2006. Interview subjects range from cultural commentator Michael Musto and actors Alan Cumming and Jane Lynch to directors John Cameron Mitchell, Jennie Livingston, and Randy Barbato. Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema made its bow July 16, 2006, on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Todd Haynes, Ang Lee, (more)
Poignant, well-received documentary that reveals the community of New York's minority drag queens, gay black and Latino men who cross dress as women and invent the dance style of "voguing," imitating the fashion poses on the covers of the magazine Vogue. As director Jennie Livingston discovers, her subjects band together into family-like "houses" for protection, taking the same last names and competing in drag balls where awards are given out for authenticity or "realness," as well as other categories like "evening wear" and "executive wear." Both an embracing and a refutation of the world of high fashion, the balls become the social locus of this underclass, underground society of outcasts defiantly refusing to be ignored by a world that scorns them. Paris Is Burning (1991) was one of several critically acclaimed documentaries of the late 1980s and early 1990s excluded from Academy Award nominations, eventually leading to a reappraisal of the Academy's stodgy selection process. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorian Corey, Pepper Labeija, (more)
