☞ SEE: T.V. Documentary at Maysles Cinema

Thursday, November 15th, 7:30PM, T.V. Transvestite Screening at Maysles Cinema, 343 Lenox Avenue and 127th Street. Before Paris is Burning, there was T.V. Transvestite. Shot in 1982 by filmmakers Simone di Bagno and Michele Capozzi, the documentary captures a fierce House of LaBeija ball thrown at a Harlem Bingo hall. Initially screened to a thunderous crowd in Rome that included Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni, the film found its way to NYC, where it screened at Paradise Garage in front of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. Unfortunately, the positive reception was short-lived, as the film would be hampered by music copyright laws for the next several years.

Considered "lost" and not screened in public for over two decades, T.V. Transvestite - showing such legends as Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey and Sugar in a period before voguing and at the advent of AIDS - returns to the silver screen on its 30th anniversary at the Maysles. Drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys leads a post-screening discussion among the filmmakers Simone di Bagno and Michele Capozzi, and Ballroom Hall of Fame inductee Kevin Omni who is featured in T.V. Transvestite. A portion of the proceeds will go to Art From the Heart, who will donate monies to a family who lost a ballroom child to the AIDS virus, to help cover funeral expenses.  Get $10 tickets online: LINK