Back on the Block

Tongues Untied
(Marlon T. Riggs 1989 55 min. USA)

Nonprofit organization Frameline has partnered with Signifyin’ Works to produce and release an enhanced DVD of Emmy- and Peabody-Award winning poet, filmmaker and educator Marlon T. Riggs’ Tongues Untied. Awarded Best Documentary at the Berlin Film Festival, Tongues Untied caused an uproar among the conservative right for its depiction of gay, African-American men when it was first aired on PBS’ P.O.V. series in 1991. Testaments to Riggs’ influence on the documentary form and on LGBT life continue with his induction into the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association’s Hall of Fame at their November 2006 Excellence in Journalism Awards.

Tongues Untied transformed the personal documentary with an original and culturally specific mix of poetry, personal narrative, hip-hop, and performance, creating a truly singular aesthetic that expanded the boundaries of the documentary form. Some of the men’s tales are troublesome: 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 Riggs also presents the rich flavor of the black gay male experience, from protest marches and smoky bars to the language of the "snap diva" and vogue dancer.

“Tongues Untied was motivated by a singular imperative: to shatter America's brutalizing silence around matters of sexual and racial difference. Yet despite a concerted smear and censorship campaign, perhaps even because of it, this work achieved its aim. The 55-minute video documents a nationwide community of voices–some quietly poetic, some undeniably raw and angry–which together challenge society's most deeply entrenched myths about what it means to be black, gay, a man, and above all, human.” —Marlon Riggs, Current, Aug. 1991

ENHANCED DVD NOW AVAILABLE FOR EDUCATORS! Special New Features:
-Interview with the Director
-Interviews with Isaac Julien, Phill Wilson, Herman Gray, and Juba Kalamka
-Outtakes from the film

DVD Produced by Vivian Kleiman for Signifyin’ Works

Reviews / Awards for Tongues Untied:
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
Achievement Award, Big Muddy Film Festival
Best Video, Documentary Fesstiva, New York
Outstanding Merit Award, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
Honorable Mention, Black Maria Film Festival
Honorable Mention, Black American Cinema Society
New Works Premiere, American Film Institute of Video Festival
Video Viewpoints, Museum of Modern Art
Gay Lives '89, San Francisco Film Arts Festival
Best Performance Video, Atlanta Film & Video Festival
Special Jury Award, USA Film Festival
Special Jury Award, Newark Black Filmmakers Festival
Maya Deren Award, American Film Institute
Blue Ribbon, American Film & Video Festival
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 Harvardite...gay...rejected by his southern peeps...struggling to find community...coming to SF and getting dissed in the Castro...attempting to confront racism in the gay community...conflicted around his identity issues and having them brought into sharp focus by his white lovers...you get the point. Watch it. You'll see that you ain't that different from the rest of us.” - Juba Kalamka (aka Pointfivefag), Deep Dickollective, Oakland, CA

"Pointed and vital....Propelled 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 intentions...Marlon Riggs has created that rarest of birds--a 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 film's 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. I'm happy to see it released as a DVD. It's long overdue." - E. Patrick Johnson, Chair, Department of Performance Studies, Northwestern University