Filmes de Interés Gay

"...shatter the nation's
brutalizing silence on
matters of sexual
and racial difference."

Marlon Riggs’ 1989 semi-documentary film Tongues Untied seeks, in its author's words to, "...shatter the nation's brutalizing silence on matters of sexual and racial difference." The film blends documentary footage with personal account and fiction in an attempt to depict the specificity of black gay identity.

The "silence" referred to throughout the film is that of black gay men who are unable to express themselves because of the prejudices of white and black heterosexual society. The narrative structure of Tongues Untied is both interesting and unconventional. Besides including documentary footage detailing North American black gay culture Riggs also tells of his own experiences as a gay man. These include the realizing of his sexual identity and of coping with the deaths of many of his friends to AIDS.

Other elements within the film include footage of the civil rights movement and clips of Eddie Murphy performing a homophobic stand-up routine. At the time of its release the film was considered controversial because of its frank portrayal of gay sexuality. At the time Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan cited Tongues Untied as an example of how President Bush was using taxpayer's money to fund "pornographic art". In his defense Riggs stated that, "Implicit in the much overworked rhetoric of community standards is the assumption of only one central community (patriarchal, heterosexual and usually white) and only one overarching cultural standard ditto."

Film Information: 'Tongues Untied'

Web: Cast, Bios and Additional Details at IMDb
Director: Marlon Riggs
Writer: Marlon Riggs
Credits: Full Cast, Crew & Credits
Genre: Documentary
Awards: 3 wins
Runtime: 55 min
Spoken Language: English

Film Files: 'Tongues Untied'

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Web: Listening to the Heartbeat: Interview with Marlon Riggs (Opens in new tab)

This interview was conducted by Chuck Kleinhans in Oakland CA in November 1989, with Marlon Riggs shortly after the premiere of Riggs' TONGUES UNTIED at the American Film Institute Video Festival. The interview was prepared in written form by Julia Lesage.

Web: Marlon Riggs bio at the Museum of Broadcast Communications (Opens in new tab)
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