What were your intentions in creating this portrait of the ballroom community?

I stepped into a community where people were geniuses at becoming themselves, geniuses at using words and far beyond brilliant at using dance forms to express themselves. Their self-invention was such a complex cultural commentary. It questioned what America is and proved the political power of creating identity. It was a story that touched me, and that I felt people should know. I wanted to give people in the world of ballroom the opportunity to speak in the medium of film. My intentions were to tell a story, to tell it well, and to have other people recognize the complexity, brilliance, usefulness and beauty of this world.

In what ways do you feel your film paved the way for shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Pose”?

It proved to people who fund films that general audiences want to see images of a subculture that, when I started out, the powers that be were wildly resistant to. The film also helped open up territory for other writers, filmmakers and TV showrunners because it created a solid reference for queer and trans characters who weren’t white or mainstream. Most crucially, the film helped audiences from all over imagine and know queer worlds. If L.G.B.T.Q. people have been seeing ourselves in straight stories for centuries, “Paris” and other films of its era helped usher in a world where straight people can see themselves in queer stories and storytelling. It’s also been a touchstone for people close to the ball world, and those who have come to know ballroom through the film, to see themselves honored on the big screen. It wasn’t the first, but in its era, it made a kind of splash that’s kept reverberating.