Marlon Riggs ‘Tongues Untied’ (1989), image still
Image Description: Black and white image showing a group of what appears to be black men, squating on a floor in a triangular shape, looking at the camera against a graffiti sprayed white background. Their poses and gaze are confident and proud.
Third offering presents:
Tongues Untied dir. Marlon Riggs , 55’, US, 1989
This radical landmark work of Black Queer Cinema, in the words the Emmy Award-winner Marlon Riggs’ himself, was made to “shatter this nation’s [America’s] brutalising silence on matters of sexual and racial difference”. Sparking huge controversy in the culture wars of the 1980s, this vital experimental documentary uses poetry, personal testimony, rap and performance featuring Essex Hemphill amongst others, to depict the specificity of black gay identity. Through fierce directness and affirmations, Riggs explores what it means to live as an outsider in both a Black community and a largely white gay subculture.
The screening will be followed by recorded reflections from David Ellington and an experimental collective reading session moderated by Collective Çukurcuma.
David Ellington reflects on ‘Tongues Untied’ (1989)
David Ellington is a filmmaker, actor, poet and presenter based in Bristol. He is a founder of VS1 Production, a company that specialises in video productions featuring British Sign Language.
In 2020, David Ellington brought to life his beautiful, poignant and political BSL poem, Liberty, in a new highly-visual, poetic and physically realised short film commissioned by Ad Infinitum and HOME. David has been collaborating with Ad Infinitum since 2016. In June, they asked him to create an artistic response to the current situation we find ourselves in, and this is his response. This film-poem draws on visual vernacular, sign mime and BSL to examine what sets us apart and unites us.
As part of the ‘Repeated Apparitions’ offering, David reflected on intertwining themes between ‘Tongues Untied’ and ‘Liberty’.
You can read the interview with David about the production of ‘Liberty’ below..
Collective reading session moderated by Collective Çukurcuma with a contribution from poet Fran Lock
Collective Çukurcuma Reading Group is a platform that foregoes institutional hierarchies in favour of a horizontal learning environment where the resources are shared and repurposed to create a more equal and accessible space for knowledge production. Collective Çukurcuma Reading Group was initiated in 2015 by Naz Cuguoğlu & Mine Kaplangı.
The reading will look at Fran’s poetry and their newly released book Hyena! Jackal! Dog! and explore how repetition can become a practice of resistance, reparation and renewal. The reading welcomes a contribution from Fran, who recorded a special performative audio session, especially for this occasion.