Curtain Up!

 Leave It on the Floor
Directed by Sheldon Larry

Screens July 16

Two decades after the dance form voguing became a national sensation with the classic documentary Paris Is Burning (OK, Madonna helped a little) comes this ruthlessly entertaining celebration of L.A.'s drag ball culture. Director Larry says he was obsessed with the earlier documentary. Groups of young African-Americans, largely gay and transgendered, mostly runaways and throwaways, victims of rejection, bullying, violence, and homelessness, come together below the radar to create innovative music, dance, theater, design, and, most importantly, community. "These kids are brave and talented heroes to me, off the grid, vulnerable, yet full of such talent and humanity," Larry says. "I needed to make a film to celebrate their lives and lifestyle ... and the characters needed to sing about it!"