(Photo Credits: Screengrab from BFI’s Official YouTube Account)
In I’m Your Venus, director Kimberly Reed fashions a moving, gorgeously woven tribute to Venus Pellagatti Xtravaganza, the trans ballroom icon who first rose to fame in Paris Is Burning. As an award‑winning transgender filmmaker (best known for Prodigal Sons and Dark Money), Reed brings both personal insight and cinematic care to this elegiac work. The story follows Venus’s three biological brothers—John, Joe, and Louie Pellagatti—as they join forces with the House of Xtravaganza, including mother of the house of Xtravaganza Gisele Alicea and other beloved members, to reopen her cold murder case, fight for the legal recognition of her name, and preserve her legacy.
Venus Xtravaganza was an American trans woman of Puerto Rican-Italian descent. She was a rising star of the 1980s Harlem ballroom scene, best remembered for her wit, beauty, and grace in Paris Is Burning. She dreamed of becoming a model and living a life of glamour—“like a white woman,” she once joked, poignantly revealing her desire for safety and visibility in a world that often denied both.
Tragically, in 1988, at the age of just 23, Venus was found strangled to death and hidden under a hotel bed in New York City. Her murder was never solved, and for decades, she was misnamed in official records and buried without proper recognition. Decades after her unsolved murder, this film brings together her biological family and chosen ballroom clan in a moving quest for recognition, justice, and reconciliation.
Blending poignant archival footage of Venus voguing and performing from Paris Is Burning with intimate, present‑day interviews across New Jersey and New York, I’m Your Venus becomes a narrative of reconciliation between biological and chosen family. The Pellagatti brothers and the House members unite to push the NYPD to re-examine the decades‑old evidence, even confronting a previously undisclosed confession from a jailed man who later died by suicide—though DNA testing was inconclusive due to preserved evidence issues. At the same time, the family successfully petitions for Venus’s name to appear officially on her death certificate and headstone, symbolically restoring her identity in the public record.
This is not just a true‑crime story—it’s a portrait of love, grief, and healing. Reed frames Venus not as a victim but as a vibrant force—her energy, her dreams, and her influence still alive in the ballroom scene and beyond. House of Xtravaganza members and the Pellagattis grieve together, sometimes disagree, and ultimately move toward acceptance and celebration. As they continue Venus’s legacy for the new generation, the film serves as a reminder of the systemic marginalization transgender women face—and the resilience that rises from community and memory.
With beautiful editing by Eric Daniel Metzgar, Michael Palmieri, and Dava Whisenant; cinematography from Rose Bush, Bella Graves, and Joshua Z. Weinstein; and executive production by Jennie Livingston, Dominique Jackson, and others, the documentary crafts an emotional arc across 84 minutes of storytelling. It premiered in 2024 at Tribeca, later screened at international festivals, and launched globally on Netflix in June 2025.
Happy viewing!
Yet another story about how sad it always always is for LGTBQ+ individuals. Just seems the pain and anguish will never ever end! There was no excuse for how she was treated back then. No excuse now for how some like her are treated now. Without dispute, great progress has been made toward acceptance and normalization. So much so, one of my more-Centrist mainline media newsfeeds reported this week about a couple of dads adopting several siblings who had been languishing in separate Foster homes away from each other for many years. These great men rounded up the herd and… Read more »
Pain & Anguish are marketable. The Liberal Brigade eat it up like caviar and drink it down like champagne!
Glad for the Brigade but look at what’s happening …
Look at the current approval ratings across numerous polls for the Democratic/Liberal/Progressive crowd. Month after month it’s been dropping. Yet, their various leaders say “we must do MORE of what we’ve been doing! We must FIGHT harder!”
Look at how their opposition has been getting many more wins then loses.
As has been said for decades: “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Is it “Redondant” or is it “Repetitive”?
The Liberals do not understand this concept so they “Regurgitate” and in the interim, try to convince themselves that such steadfastness will result in a different outcome?
“Candy Darling” died March 21, 1974.
R.I.P. to this person, whomever committing these acts need to be held accountable!
That being said, this is another part of gay culture that many bi and gay men don’t want anything to do with…. for many it’s just about attraction, sex… not the ballroom, club, drag scene etc
Found the Trump supporter.
Definitely not… wth lol
yo, this zebra voted for the white bread whose skin color matches the paint job on the outside of the presidential palace.
You need to look at the older comments on this article and say that shit to them but not me…
He’s just another STUPID LIBTARD that LOVES to make assumptions!! We DON’T give a flying fuck what that asshole says!!!! 🙂 SAY anything you want CM – I ALWAYS do!!!!!!! 🙂
Just ONE of the THOUSANDS of CRIMES without any justice when it involves an LGBTQ+ VICTIM murdered or Harmed by a STR8!!!! Harvey Milk, Mathew Sheppard, Venus, Barry Winchell and ENDLESS more VICTIMS of the BIBLE THUMPING “Moral majority” that practice MUDERS on LGBTQ+ but try to KEEP a woman from exercising her REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOMS!!!! HELLA NO!!!! We ARE never GOING to turn the other CHEEK again!!!! GO AHEAD and try to get away with FUCKING over the LGBTQ+ community you good little religious FREAKS!!!!!! Screw forgiveness!!!!!
When you strip away the situation of her being trans, this is simply a story of someone being different than the “norm” who just wanted to be accepted, happy, and belong. Unfortunately, our society doesn’t like “different”. But she chose to live her authentic self as much as possible. While the LGBTQ+ community has challenges, so do other communities. I’m sure many will appreciate her story as well as its sad end. However, it should serve as a reminder that everyone has the right to live their authentic life and be happy, even if they may be perceived as different… Read more »