Films A to Z
Tongues Untied
- Runtime:
- 55 min.
- Year of Production:
- 1989
- Country:
- USA
- Director:
- Cast:
- Essex Hemphill
Marlon T. Riggs
Michael Bell
Kerrigan Black
Blackberri
Bernard Branner
Ben Callet
Gerald Davis
Kenneth R. Dixson
Larry Duckette
Gideon Ferebee
Brian Freeman
Gene Garth
A.J. Honey
Paul Horrey
David Hunter
Wayson Jones
David Barron Kirkland
Richard Medford
Cornelius Moore
Bryant Navy
Willi Ninja
Michael Otis
Christopher Prince
Timothy Riena
Taalib-Din Shakir
Ron Simmons
Darnell Stephens-Durio
Robert D. Taylor
Britt Tennell
Arvid Williams - Production Company:
- MTR Productions
- Berlinale Section:
- Panorama
- Berlinale Category:
- Documentary Film
- Teddy Award:
- Best Documentary/ Essay Film
An early work of queer black emancipation from the then beacon of hope in the Afro-American gay rights movement - another artist and intellectual who died far too young from AIDS.
An attempt to break through silence. Personal confessions and poetical texts are passionately and provocingly fused to form a study of black homosexual identity in the USA. (Berlinale festival catalogue)
This is the acclaimed account of Black gay life by Emmy Award-winning director Marlon T. Riggs. Using poetry, personal testimony, rap and performance (featuring poet Essex Hemphill and others), TONGUES UNTIED describes the homophobia and racism that confront Black gay men.
The stories are fierce examples of homophobia and racism: the man refused entry to a gay bar because of his color; the college student left bleeding on the sidewalk after a gay-bashing; the loneliness and isolation of the drag queen. Yet they also affirm the black gay male experience: protest marches, smoky bars, "snap diva", humorous "musicology" and Vogue dancers. (frameline)
"My struggle has allowed me to transcend that sense of shame and stigma identified with my being a black gay man. Having come through that fire, they can't touch me." - Marlon T. Riggs
BIOGRAFIE Marlon T. Riggs
Born in Fort Worth, USA in 1957, he died in 1994. He studied journalism at Harvard and the University of California. His films explored issues of cultural memory, race relations and homophobia as well as his own HIV status. He won an Emmy for his documentary ETHNIC NOTIONS(1987)
FILMOGRAFIE Marlon T. Riggs (selection)
1989 Tongues Untied
1986 Ethnis Notions
Film's Wikipedia page
Marlon Riggs IMDb
Trailer