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Event
Tongues Untied
The seminal documentary on Black gay life, Emmy Award-winning director Marlon T. Riggs 1989 Tongues Untied uses poetry, personal testimony, rap and performance (featuring poet Essex Hemphill and others), to describe 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.
A quarter of a century after its release, director Marlon T. Riggs documentary, winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and Best Documentary prize at the Berlin Film Festival, is as relevant as ever.
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 cant touch me. Marlon T. Riggs
Reviews and Awards
Best Independent/Experimental Work, L.A. Film Critics Award
First Prize, New Visions, San Francisco International Film Festival
First Prize, Experimental, National Educational Film & Video Festival
Best Black Independent Production, National Black Programming Consortium
Best Documentary, San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival
Best Gay Documentary, Berlin International Film Festival
A black male warrior fighting for the right to love other black men, Marlon Riggs affirms what was nearly lost, newly found: the certainty that black male lives are utterly precious. Alice Walker
Black Harvarditegayrejected by his southern peepsstruggling to find communitycoming to SF and getting dissed in the Castroattempting to confront racism in the gay communityconflicted around his identity issues and having them brought into sharp focus by his white loversyou get the point. Watch it. Youll see that you aint that different from the rest of us. Juba Kalamka (aka Pointfivefag), Deep Dickollective, Oakland, CA
Pointed and vitalPropelled at times by a beautifully articulated anger, Tongues Untied becomes a compelling look at conditions faced by Black gay men. Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
Usually, politically and socially admirable films fall short of the mark in the aesthetics department. They are praised more for their good intentionsMarlon Riggs has created that rarest of birdsa brilliant, innovative work of art that delivers a knock-out political punch. Vito Russo, The Advocate
A profoundly moving as well as educational experience, Tongues Untied is a superb vehicle that health professionals can use to stimulate discussion of Black gay men. Michael Shernoff, National Lesbian & Gay Health Foundation
Tongues Untied stands alone as a model for placing sexuality in a contemporary social context. Nowhere else will you find a more complete dissection of the wholeness of the individual with this kind of haunting and eloquent truth. Jacquie Jones, Black Film Review
Tongues Untied is one of the most significant documentaries of the past 30 years, and is ground-breaking on a number of fronts. Seventeen years after its initial release, the film is still unique in its often overwhelming performative power. It is an intensely personal and moving work that merits inclusion in any library collection interested in issues related to race, identity, and sexuality. Gary Handman, Director, UC Berkeley Media Resources Center.
Marlon Riggs path breaking Tongues Untied is the beacon of black queer film making. Teachers and students interested in race, class, gender, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS must have Tongues Untied in their video library. This films meditation on what it means to be black and gay in America is candid, provocative, and original and speaks to the perseverance of the human spirit. We lost Riggs too soon, but his legacy lives on in this masterful film. Im happy to see it released as a DVD. Its long overdue. E. Patrick Johnson, Chair, Department of Performance Studies, Northwestern University
Tongues Untied helps to unleash the speech of gays, lesbians, and queers in Psyc 261, Cultural Psychology, here at Wesleyan. It is a dynamic, moving film about resistance, revolution and love in times of oppression. I most strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to help their students find ways to speak about the pain and the joy in fighting sexual and racial oppression. Bob Steele, Professor of Psychology, Wesleyan University
I was happy to get the new DVD edition of Marlon Riggs Tongues Untied. Its wonderful that this classic of Black gay life will be seen by more students now that it is available on DVD. I applaud Frameline for converting its collection to digital. Daniel C. Tsang, Film and Media Studies Librarian (acting), UC Irvine
We are using Tongues Untied and A Different Kind of Black Man in studies on behavioral intervention to reduce sexual risk and increase general healthy behaviors among African American men who have sex with men. These films are very valuable tools in getting men to talk about cultural issues and barriers such as HIV/Sex/Drugs, racism and homophobia, and are a great resource for programs we are evaluating. Nicole Martin, Howard Brown Health Center, Chicago
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LocationSuns Cinema (View)
3107 Mount Pleasant Street NW
Washington, DC 20010
United States
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