Synopsis
A vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City's African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene.
- Programme: Arena
- Episode: Paris Is Burning
- Channel: BBC Four
- Broadcast year: 1990
- History | Gender Studies
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from Arena
1: Magical Mystery Tour Revisited | Arena
1: Magical Mystery Tour Revisited | Arena
The making of The Beatles' controversial 1967 film, featuring previously unseen archive footage.
2: The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour | Arena
2: The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour | Arena
Fully restored and with a remixed soundtrack, 'The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour comes out of the shadows and onto the screen.
Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came to Dingle | Arena
Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came to Dingle | Arena
Documentary telling the story of the day Amy Winehouse recorded a stunning acoustic performance in a church in the small I...
Bob Dylan - Trouble No More | Arena
Bob Dylan - Trouble No More | Arena
A Bob Dylan performance of songs expressing his new-found Christianity in the late 70s, enhanced by a series of sermons between the songs...
Bob Dylan: No Direction Home | Arena
Bob Dylan: No Direction Home | Arena
The story of Bob Dylan, directed by Martin Scorsese, from a rock 'n' roll loving kid in the Midwest to his arrival as a major force in t...
Bob Dylan: No Direction Home: Part 2 | Arena
Bob Dylan: No Direction Home: Part 2 | Arena
Martin Scorsese continues to explore Bob Dylan's early career. At 23, Dylan confounds expectations and finds a new musical vocab...
Cinema and Cindy Sherman | Arena
Cinema and Cindy Sherman | Arena
Guests discuss how poignant and present cinema is in Cindy Sherman's work.
Dockery Farm and Blues music | Arena
Dockery Farm and Blues music | Arena
Charlie Patton is considered to be the forefather of the Delta blues and worked on a plantation known as Dockery Farm.
Elder Burch and African American Gospel | Arena
Elder Burch and African American Gospel | Arena
In line with the rise of the civil rights movement, music in church became a vehicle for liberation and Elder Burch capitalis...
Infinity Mirror Rooms | Arena
Infinity Mirror Rooms | Arena
Documentary profiling Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama whose work, including her much-visited Infinity Mirror Room installations, defi...
Introduction to the art of Cindy Sherman | Arena
Introduction to the art of Cindy Sherman | Arena
A rare insight into the work of Cindy Sherman, one of the world's leading, and most elusive, contemporary artists.
James Baldwin - ''I can't be a pessimist...'' | Arena
James Baldwin - ''I can't be a pessimist...'' | Arena
James Baldwin's famous "I can't be a pessimist..." speech about race in America.
James Baldwin and Paul Weiss debate | Arena
James Baldwin and Paul Weiss debate | Arena
A debate between James Baldwin and Paul Weiss about race inequality.
Kusama: Infinity | Arena
Kusama: Infinity | Arena
Documentary profiling Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama whose work, including her much-visited Infinity Mirror Room installations, defies cl...
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X | Arena
Martin Luther King and Malcolm X | Arena
A conversation between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, exposing their different approaches to Civil Rights.
Miller Meets Mandela | Arena
Miller Meets Mandela | Arena
Following his release from prison, Nelson Mandela opens up about his life and the turbulent times he's faced in this rare and momentous intervie...
Produced by George Martin | Arena
Produced by George Martin | Arena
Profile of record producer Sir George Martin, with his wife Judy, son Giles, Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Michael Palin among the ma...
Saints | Arena
Saints | Arena
Documentary looking at the phenomenon of sanctity. The Catholic Church is the only Christian persuasion with an official saint-making process, overseen by the...
Salvador Dali | Arena
Salvador Dali | Arena
An Arena special on the life and works of Salvador Dali, the events & things that influenced him and his paintings.
School segregation in the USA | Arena
School segregation in the USA | Arena
An exploration of the Civil Rights fight for black people to attend the same schools as white people.
More resources about Modern USA
Trump: A Second Chance? | Panorama
Trump: A Second Chance? | Panorama
For the past two years, Panorama has been following some of Donald Trump's most ardent supporters. They tell Panorama why they want him to...
S1E10: The Assassination of JFK | Days That Shook the World
S1E10: The Assassination of JFK | Days That Shook the World
The stories of a day that rocked the American presidency: the assassination of its youngest leader, John F. Kennedy.
Eruption at Mount St. Helens | Surviving Disaster
Eruption at Mount St. Helens | Surviving Disaster
Mount St Helens' in Washington State stood almost 10,000 feet high and in 1980 had not erupted for over one hundred years.
22: Star Wars: 1981-1988 | Cold War
22: Star Wars: 1981-1988 | Cold War
Reagan's 1983 ''Evil Empire'' speech sets the tone for a more aggressive US posture against the Soviet Union, and the costly arms race is...
1929: The Great Crash
1929: The Great Crash
Over six terrifying, desperate days in October 1929, shares crashed by a third on the New York Stock Exchange. More than $25 billion in individual weal...
S1E10: The Resignation of Nixon | Days That Shook the World
S1E10: The Resignation of Nixon | Days That Shook the World
The stories of a day that rocked the American presidency: the resignation of Richard Nixon.
S1E3: The Assassination of MLK | Days That Shook the World
S1E3: The Assassination of MLK | Days That Shook the World
This program follows the day Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy
The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy
For forty years, conspiracy theories have raged over the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Now, 3D computer animation of the cri...
4: Drugs and Punishment | Wheeler on America
4: Drugs and Punishment | Wheeler on America
Charles Wheeler looks at population growth in prisons and asks are penalties for drug offences too harsh?
Eisenhower and bombs | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
Eisenhower and bombs | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
Lucy explains how the Soviet threat was talked up, resulting in the Titan 2 missile which could trav...
S1E12: Donald Campbell | Days That Shook the World
S1E12: Donald Campbell | Days That Shook the World
The program follows Donald Campbell's fatal attempt to become the fastest man on water on January 4, 1967.
S2E8: Terrorism: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln | Days That Shook the World
S2E8: Terrorism: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln | Days That Shook the World
How the commercial airplane has been used as a terrorist weapon: the Black September hijacking ...
The Cold War | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
The Cold War | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
Lucy explains the post-war tensions between the US and Russia and the reasons why atomic bomb testing became...
The Cuban Missile Crisis | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
The Cuban Missile Crisis | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley
Lucy unpicks Kennedy's lauded efforts in the Cuban Missile Crisis and considers whether his brav...
2: A Great Society? | Wheeler on America
2: A Great Society? | Wheeler on America
Charles Wheeler charts origins & decline of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programme, looking at how it changed the lives of poor pp...
2: The Brooklyn Bridge | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
2: The Brooklyn Bridge | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
This programme tells the story of father and son engineers John and Washington Roebling and their scheme to bu...
3: America's Long March | Wheeler on America
3: America's Long March | Wheeler on America
Charles Wheeler looks at disappointed hopes of black America from LBJ's 1965 Voting Rights Act to radicalism of Louis FARRAKHAN.
5: The Reagan Legacy | Wheeler on America
5: The Reagan Legacy | Wheeler on America
Charles Wheeler explores the social impact of Reaganism on today's America.
6: The Panama Canal | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
6: The Panama Canal | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
The story of French engineer Ferdinand De Lesseps' scheme to build a canal across Panama.
Apollo 11: The Impact on Earth | Panorama
Apollo 11: The Impact on Earth | Panorama
Robin Day hosts this special edition of the current-affairs programme, marking man's first steps on the surface of the moon. Julian...