Next up, we re speaking to
Pose You re never going to get this made. It s never going to happen.
After 166 meetings with various TV executives, Steven Canals was tired of hearing words to this effect. I would say about 50% were giving me some version of: It s going to be really hard. It s very Black, it s very brown, it s queer, it s trans, it s a period piece. But then there was a smaller group that was very direct, saying, No one s ever going to give you the money or trust you need to get this to the finish line.
Thankfully, Steven proved these executives wrong, and by doing so, he ended up creating one of the most important shows ever made. Because
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Chris Azzopardi | ScreenQueen
In
Paris Is Burning, a strut is a defiant act, an exertion of suppressed power. In the mid-to-late 1980s, when the landmark documentary was filmed, these moves couldn’t be showcased just anywhere. Today the same is true, as the call to end violence against trans people and to confront transphobia persists.
Given the number of trans people killed since the doc was released (and the surge of trans murders currently making headlines), that call seems, still, to fall on deaf ears. And so white, queer, non-trans director Jennie Livingston’s 1990 film remains fiercely important, as much a time capsule as a reflection on how much progress has been made (and has yet to be made), its haunting relevance resonating yet again during our modern LGBTQ and Black Lives Matter movements.
Yes,
Sister Act is a classic, must-watch film, but in the sequel, Whoopi Goldberg’s character completes the metamorphosis that began in the first movie. (The growth!) She s able to see the students not as bad eggs, but as a room full of untapped potential. By actively changing the way she communicates with each and every one of them, she not only gets her point across but becomes an incredible mentor and teacher. 7 Paris is Burning
Paris is Burning offers a glimpse into the 1980s New York ballroom scene as well as an entrée to the Black and Latinx house mothers, drag queens, trans women, and voguers populating Harlem’s rich and burgeoning community. By highlighting the trials, triumphs, and tribulations of Venus Xtravaganza, Danni Xtravaganza, Dorian Corey, Octavia St. Laurent, Pepper LaBeija, Willi Ninja, and others, this film gives a handful of queer POCs the mic and an opportunity to tell part of their much larger story.