Jennie Livingston’s documentary classic,  Paris Is Burning,  takes you inside the world of Harlem drag costume balls. Within this specific cultural niche one finds intense rivalry between fashion “houses” that compete for such categories as “Fashion Model,” “School,” “Military,” “Executive,” and others. At different points celebratory and sorrowful, the film, which Livingston shot over a period of several years, is a loosely structured but undeniably absorbing spectacle that shines a spotlight on a subculture menaced by the AIDS epidemic. Sundance Institute, Outfest UCLA, and the Andrew J. Kuehn Jr. Foundation financed the new restoration, which enjoyed a two-week run in New York. The Nuart has booked it for a week.

Nuart Theatre, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A.; Fri., July 5, 11:59 p.m.; $12. (310) 473-8530, landmarktheatres.com.

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