Jennie Livingston
Encyclopedia
Jennie Livingston is an American
director
best known for the 1990
documentary
Paris is Burning
.
Livingston was born in Dallas, Texas
and grew up in Los Angeles
where she attended Beverly HIlls High School. She graduated from Yale University
in 1983, where she studied photography, drawing, and painting with a minor in English Literature. Livingston was the niece of the late film director Alan J. Pakula
, who initially warned her away from film directing, but later proved encouraging. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
won the 1991 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and was a key film both in the emerging American independent film
movement and in the nascent New Queer Cinema
. Paris is Burning was one of Miramax Films
' earliest successes, and helped pave the way for a current crop of commercially successful documentary films. It was one of the best films of 1991 according to The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and NPR; New York Magazine, in its 2008 40th anniversary edition, called it one of the most influential cultural works to come out of New York City in 40 years.
topics: Hotheads, a 1993 documentary created through the AIDS
research-friendly Red Hot Organization
, explores two comedians' responses to violence against women: cartoonist Diane Dimassa
, and writer/performer Reno.
Who's the Top?, Livingston's first dramatic film, premiered at Berlin International Film Festival
in 2005, and stars Marin Hinkle
, Shelly Mars, and Steve Buscemi
. The film, a lesbian sex comedy with musical numbers, also features 24 Broadway dancers choreographed by Broadway choreographer John Carrafa in the manner of Busby Berkeley
.
"Through the Ice" is a digital short, commissioned in 2005 for public television station WNET
-New York, about the accidental drowning of Miguel Flores in Prospect Park, Brooklyn; the film was also seen at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Livingston is currently directing a documentary feature, Earth Camp One, a first person about grief, loss, and a hippie summer camp in the 1970s, also a broader essay on social and cultural attitudes about death and impermanence, was begun on a 2000 Guggenheim fellowship
and was also partially funded by Netflix
. She is also developing Prenzlauer Berg, an ensemble film set in the art worlds of New York and East Berlin in the late 80s which was researched on a grant from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD). She has appeared in others' films, speaking about film and filmmaking, including "Fabulous! The Story of Queer Film," created for the cable channel IFC Television in 2006. In 2010, she was the Fran and Ray Stark Distinguished Fellow in Film at Connecticut College.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
best known for the 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Paris is Burning
Paris is Burning (film)
Paris Is Burning is a 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it...
.
Livingston was born in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
and grew up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where she attended Beverly HIlls High School. She graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1983, where she studied photography, drawing, and painting with a minor in English Literature. Livingston was the niece of the late film director Alan J. Pakula
Alan J. Pakula
Alan Jay Pakula was an American film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.-Career:...
, who initially warned her away from film directing, but later proved encouraging. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Paris Is Burning
Livingston's documentary about a New York gay and transgender Black and Latino ball cultureBall culture
Ball culture, the house system, the ballroom community and similar terms describe the underground LGBT subculture in the United States in which people "walk" for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Those who walk often also dance and vogue while others compete in various genres of drag...
won the 1991 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and was a key film both in the emerging American independent film
Independent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
movement and in the nascent New Queer Cinema
New Queer Cinema
New Queer Cinema is a term first coined by the academic B. Ruby Rich in Sight & Sound magazine in 1992 to define and describe a movement in queer-themed independent filmmaking in the early 1990s...
. Paris is Burning was one of Miramax Films
Miramax Films
Miramax Films is an American entertainment company known for distributing independent and foreign films. For its first 14 years the company was privately owned by its founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein...
' earliest successes, and helped pave the way for a current crop of commercially successful documentary films. It was one of the best films of 1991 according to The Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and NPR; New York Magazine, in its 2008 40th anniversary edition, called it one of the most influential cultural works to come out of New York City in 40 years.
Subsequent works
Two of Livingston's short films, "Hotheads" and "Who's the Top?," explore queerQueer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
topics: Hotheads, a 1993 documentary created through the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
research-friendly Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
, explores two comedians' responses to violence against women: cartoonist Diane Dimassa
Diane DiMassa
Diane DiMassa is an American feminist author and cartoonist. Her works include comics, illustrations, and a graphic novel. She is best known for the character Hothead Paisan, Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist.- Hothead Paisan :...
, and writer/performer Reno.
Who's the Top?, Livingston's first dramatic film, premiered at Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
in 2005, and stars Marin Hinkle
Marin Hinkle
Marin Elizabeth Hinkle is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing the role of Judith Harper-Melnick, Alan Harper's ex-wife on the hit series Two and a Half Men and her role as Judy Brooks the sister of the series lead Lily Manning on Once and Again.-Career:Hinkle started her career on...
, Shelly Mars, and Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
. The film, a lesbian sex comedy with musical numbers, also features 24 Broadway dancers choreographed by Broadway choreographer John Carrafa in the manner of Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley
Busby Berkeley was a highly influential Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer. Berkeley was famous for his elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns...
.
"Through the Ice" is a digital short, commissioned in 2005 for public television station WNET
WNET
WNET, channel 13 is a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the New York metropolitan area, WNET is a primary station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
-New York, about the accidental drowning of Miguel Flores in Prospect Park, Brooklyn; the film was also seen at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.
Livingston is currently directing a documentary feature, Earth Camp One, a first person about grief, loss, and a hippie summer camp in the 1970s, also a broader essay on social and cultural attitudes about death and impermanence, was begun on a 2000 Guggenheim fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
and was also partially funded by Netflix
Netflix
Netflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...
. She is also developing Prenzlauer Berg, an ensemble film set in the art worlds of New York and East Berlin in the late 80s which was researched on a grant from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD). She has appeared in others' films, speaking about film and filmmaking, including "Fabulous! The Story of Queer Film," created for the cable channel IFC Television in 2006. In 2010, she was the Fran and Ray Stark Distinguished Fellow in Film at Connecticut College.
Filmography
- Paris is BurningParis is Burning (film)Paris Is Burning is a 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston. Filmed in the mid-to-late 1980s, it chronicles the ball culture of New York City and the African American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it...
(1991) - Hotheads (1993)
- Stonewall (film installation in theatrical production) (1994)
- Who's the Top? (2005)
- Through the Ice (2005)
- Earth Camp One (2008)