Tongues Untied

An essayistic video collage that combines different ways of speaking: spoken poetry, interviews, rap, performances by poet Essex Hemphill and sequences of dancing and voguing that unabashedly bear the influence of music videos. After receiving the Best Documentary prize at the Berlin Film Festival and a Los Angeles Film Critics Award, this seminal film remains as relevant as ever. As a documentary it reflects on the intersection of homophobia and racism that confronts Black gay men, as an artwork it celebrates Black gay identity and defies its silencing.