Jennie Livingston

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Livingston at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival

Jennie Livingston (born February 24, 1962 in Dallas ) is an American director . She became internationally known for the documentary she filmed Paris burns from 1990 , which deals with the so-called ballroom culture of the mainly non-white LGBT community in New York in the 1980s and won several prestigious awards, including the teddy bear Award .

Life

Livingston was born in Dallas, Texas , but her family moved when Livingston was two years old to Los Angeles , where she grew up with her parents and two older brothers. Livingston first attended Beverly Hills High School and then studied photography, drawing and painting as well as English-language literature as a minor at Yale University . She graduated in 1983, and at university she also met the photographer Tod Papageorge , who was one of her lecturers. After graduating in 1984, she attended a directing course at New York University for one summer .

Several members of Livingston's family were also at least partially active in the arts. Her uncle was the director Alan J. Pakula , on whose film Kellerkinder she worked as an assistant on the production design in 1987. Livingston's mother, Myra Cohn Livingston, was a poet, children's book author and anthologist, her father Richard Livingston, an accountant, also wrote a children's book, her brother Jonas worked as a manager at Geffen Records and Music Corporation of America and shot the music video for What I Am , which is considered the one-hit wonder of the band Edie Brickell & New Bohemians .

In 1985, Livingston moved to New York, where she became an AIDS activist with Act Up . Livingston now lives in Brooklyn and is openly lesbian.

Career

First film

In 1985, Livingston in Washington Square Park saw a few people dance Vogue . She wanted to know more about this dance style from them, which is why they invited them to a ball where several mostly Afro- or Latin-American members of the LGBT community compete against each other in artistic competitions. The participants are always members of various associations named Houses . Livingston was completely fascinated by this culture, which is why she researched and spoke to participants and visitors for two years. She finally decided to make a documentary about it. Filming lasted from 1987 to 1989.

In Paris Burns , both older and younger members of the ballroom culture have their own say through interviews. Many of those affected have been cast out because of their homosexuality and live in poverty, which is why the ball is a kind of “refuge” for them. In her film, Livingston also documents the origin of the dance Vogue, the wishes of transgender women in culture for prosperity and a normal family life through a gender reassignment measure, as well as the social transphobia that was widespread at the time , among other things using the example of the interviewee Venus Xtravaganza, who before the Completion of the film was murdered.

Paris is on fire is currently considered a milestone in both US independent film and new queer cinema , which can still be seen at current film festivals. It grossed 4 million dollars at the box office, a comparatively high result for an independent production and one of the first successes for the then relatively young distributor Miramax . The production received several awards, including the Teddy Award , a Gotham Award and a GLAAD Media Award . It was also named one of the best films of 1991 by several critics, including the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post . Paris burns was also next to Madonna 's song of the same name and music video (in which several interviewees from Paris burns occurred) one of the triggers of the increased popularity of Vogue. In 2016 Paris burns was included in the Library of Congress 's film archive along with 24 other productions .

Burning career in Paris

After the success of Paris burns , Livingston made another documentary. The short film Hotheads was made with the support of the Red Hot Organization , which fights AIDS worldwide through popular culture means . Hotheads is about two artists who want to take action against violence against women. These are the comic artist and writer Diane DiMassa and the actress and comedian Reno . Hotheads was on the channels MTV and KQED in San Francisco to see and was on one of the Polygram belonging Polygram Video - cassette of the Red Hot Organization published together with other short films.

Who's the top? , Livingston's next short film and first fictional production, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2005 . In this play Marin Hinkle , Shelly Mars and Steve Buscemi , the leading roles. Who's the top? is a multi-musical, lesbian sex comedy starring 24 professional Broadway dancers and directed by Broadway choreographer John Carrafa . The production has been shown at film festivals in more than 150 countries and has been shown to audiences at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Institute of Contemporary Arts , among others .

Through the Ice is a short documentary film produced in 2005 for the New York public television broadcaster WNET about 23-year-old Miguel Flores, a migrant from Honduras who accidentally broke into a frozen lake in Prospect Park and drowned, and several passers-by helping him wanted, but ultimately couldn't save him. The film was also shown at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival .

In 2011, Livingston started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com to fund their film Earth Camp One . The documentary feature film is about Livingston's personal grief and memories of a hippie summer camp from the 1970s and is an insight into the way in which Americans deal with transience, personal and political defeat. Livingston started working on the project in 2000 because she wanted to address the issues of grief and loss after the death of her parents, one of her grandmothers and one of her brothers between 1990 and 2000. The film has been in post-production since December 2014 .

Also in 2011, Livingston directed a video for Elton John's show The Million Dollar Piano , which ran for seven years at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas . The video consisted of short black and white portraits of several New York citizens and was seen during the song Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters .

Another unfinished Livingston film is Prenzlauer Berg , an episodic ensemble film about the everyday lives of artists in New York and East Berlin in the late 1980s.

Livingston has also taught at several universities, including Yale University, Brooklyn College and Connecticut College . She has also received scholarships from the Guggenheim Foundation , the Getty Center , the German Academic Exchange Service and the National Endowment for the Arts .

Since 2018 Livingston has acted as a consultant for the production of the FX series Pose , which deals with the New York ballroom culture of the 1980s and 1990s and the everyday lives of its members and, according to inventors Ryan Murphy , Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals, is very passionate about Paris was influenced. Livingston also directed the seventh episode of the second season Blow (German title setbacks ).

Filmography

  • 1990: Paris is on fire (documentary)
  • 1993: Hotheads (documentary short film)
  • 2005: Who's the Top? (Short film)
  • 2005: Through the Ice (documentary short film)
  • 2019: Pose (TV series, directed by episode 2x7)

Awards (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rita Berman Fischer: Myra Cohn Livingston. In: Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  2. ↑ David Ansen: Cross-Dressed For Success. In: Newsweek . August 11, 1991, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b c Eugene Hernandez: 5 Questions for Jennie Livingston, Director of "Paris Is Burning" and "Who's The Top?" In: IndieWire. August 6, 2005, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  4. ^ Bryce J. Renninger: In the Works: New Doc from "Paris is Burning" Director, Sundance's "Pariah," Chicago Mob Boss & More. In: IndieWire. January 6, 2011, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  5. ^ Poetry Foundation: Myra Cohn Livingston. In: Poetry Foundation. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  6. ^ Jonas C. Livingston '78. In: Reed Magazine. November 1, 2002, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Trish Bendix: 'Pose' Picks Up Where 'Paris Is Burning' Left Off. In: Huffpost . January 8, 2018, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b Saeed Jones: Filmmaker Jennie Livingston On Life And Loss After "Paris Is Burning". In: BuzzFeed . March 23, 2013, accessed on February 22, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b Julianne Escobedo Shepherd: The Music And Meaning Of 'Paris Is Burning'. In: National Public Radio . April 30, 2012, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Jenni Zylka: The appeal to society is still valid. In: Deutschlandfunk . August 23, 2016, accessed on February 22, 2020 .
  11. ^ Gotham Independent Film Awards. In: Gotham International Film Festival. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  12. ^ Angela Morrison: 'Paris is Burning' and the Legacy of New York Ballroom Culture. In: Film School Rejects. August 16, 2019, accessed on February 22, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Katie Walsh: Review: Before RuPaul, the documentary 'Paris Is Burning' illuminated drag. In: Los Angeles Times . July 3, 2019, accessed on February 22, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Hal Hinson: 'Paris Is Burning' (R). In: The Washington Post . August 9, 1991, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  15. ^ Mariah Cooper: 'Paris is Burning' added to the National Film Registry. In: Washington Blade . December 15, 2016, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Jennie Livingston: Hotheads. In: Jennie Livingston.com. Retrieved on February 22, 2020 (em).
  17. ↑ Jennie Livingston: Who's the Top? In: Jennie Livingston.com. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  18. ↑ Jennie Livingston: Through the Ice. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  19. ↑ Jennie Livingston: Earth Camp One. In: Jennie Livingston.com. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  20. ^ Jennie Livingston: Commercial Work. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  21. ↑ Jennie Livingston: Prenzlauer Berg. In: Jennie Livingston.com. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  22. ↑ About. In: Jennie Livingston.com. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  23. ↑ Malcolm Venable: The Mind-Blowing 1990 Documentary You Must See Before Watching Pose. In: TV Guide . May 29, 2018, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Srarah Gooding: 'paris is burning' director jennie livingston reflects on the film's legacy. In: Vice . June 11, 2019, accessed on February 22, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Patrick Pacheco: MOVIES: At the Drag Queens' Ball: Jennie Livingston's documentary, 'Paris Is Burning,' delves into sexual and ethnic self-image - and elicits charges of exploitation. In: Los Angeles Times. August 4, 1991, accessed February 22, 2020 .
  26. ↑ PJ Raval: Jennie Livingston's 'Paris Is Burning'. In: International Documentary Association. June 13, 2019, accessed on February 22, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Golden Space Needle History 1990–1999. In: Seattle International Film Festival. Retrieved February 22, 2020 (English).
  28. ^ Brian Moylan: Paris Is Burning sizzles again at the Sundance film festival. In: The Guardian . January 29, 2015, accessed February 22, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Livingston, Jennie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American director
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas , Texas