Tongues Untied

Marlon T. Riggs, 55 min, USA.

Emmy Award-winning director Marlon T. Riggs 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 transvestite. 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 although the film don't mention women's situation.