Livingston's documentary about a New York gay and transgender Black and Latin ball culture  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.
Livingston's documentary about a New York gay and transgender Black and Latin ball culture, which won the 1991 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and was crucial to both the developing American independent film movement and the burgeoning New Queer Cinema, was one of Miramax Films' first successes. This film helped pave the way for today's commercially successful documentary films.