TICKETS $15

Doors 6:30 p.m.; Event 7 p.m.
Select Showtime to Purchase Tickets

Click here to learn more about accessibility at the Tomorrow Theater. 

THE EXPERIENCE

Strike a pose and bring your best vintage fantasy—Paris Is Burning is coming to the Tomorrow Theater for a special night co-hosted by Portland Flea! A portion of sales will go to Black & Beyond the Binary Collective.

Jennie Livingston’s landmark 1991 documentary is a dazzling, defiant, and deeply human portrait of New York City’s drag ball culture in the late 1980s. More than a film, it’s a celebration of identity, community, and the art of transformation—on and off the runway. Wear your favorite thrift couture realness, and let’s celebrate the icons who paved the way.

Black & Beyond the Binary Collective‘s work builds the leadership, healing, and safety for Black – African transgender, queer, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, intersex and asexual (TQN2SIA+) Oregonians. Learn more about their org here!

ON SCREEN: Paris Is Burning

1991. Directed by Jennie Livingston. Runtime: 78 minutes. 

Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene. Made over seven years, Paris Is Burning offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion “houses,” from fierce contests for trophies to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women — including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza.

Note: We do not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, and films exhibited don’t necessarily reflect the views of PAM CUT, the Tomorrow Theater, or the Portland Art Museum. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on sites like Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com.