“In the ballroom circuit, it is so obvious that if you have captured the great white way of living, or looking, or dressing, or speaking – you is a marvel.”Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)
Mar
6
National Dress Day
Pepper LaBeija is a stunningly extravagant gold-sequined dress. DP: Paul Gibson.
Paris Is Burning is probably best known for its fabulous #ballroom and #vogueㅤing scenes but in its heart, it tells the story of #family, of people who found their new ménage where they can live and love without fear and prejudice.
– Pepper LaBeija
While you may expect a fierce documentary about #TransRights, or maybe merely a glamorous parade, you will be confronted with the flagrant #racism that made the #BallroomScene so essential for the Black and #Latinx LGBT+ community who founded it. And the tragedy of its demise in the name of pop culture even more heartbreaking.
LGBT
“People should fall in love with their eyes closed.”Kiss (Andy Warhol, 1963)
Feb
13
Kiss Day
An interracial couple kissing. © The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh.
– Andy Warhol
“He puts his cheek to the wall. With a kiss he licks the vertical surface and the greedy plaster sucks in his saliva. Then a shower of kisses.”Un chant d'amour [A Song of Love] (Jean Genet, 1950)
Jan
30
National Escape Day
From one prison window to another, a bunch of flowers swings towards a grasping hand. DP: Jacques Natteau.
An escape of sorts, in love and lust.
– Jean Genet, Notre-Dame des Fleurs (1942/43)
Pamela and Ian (David Greene, 1971)
Jan
18
National Michigan Day
Ian (Ian Stulberg) and Pamela (Pamela Seamon) during the rehearsal of the birth scene (via). DP: Freddy Sweet.
Filmed on campus of the University of Michigan and inspired by Alain Robbe-Grillet's concept of characters being born at the start of the film, and dying at the end.
Outside of this framework, the characters do not exist.