Black Is... Black Ain’t - Movie

Black Is... Black Ain’t

Marlon T. Riggs
Documentary : 87’ / HIV-AIDS, BIPOC, Community, Memory

The final film by filmmaker Marlon T. Riggs jumps into the middle of explosive debates over Black identity. White Americans have always stereotyped African Americans. But the rigid definitions of "Blackness" that African Americans impose on each other, Riggs claims, have also been devastating. Is there an essential Black identity? Is there a litmus test defining the real Black man and true Black woman? Riggs uses his grandmother's gumbo as a metaphor for the rich diversity of Black identities, and creates a flavorful stew of personal testimony, music, and history. His camera traverses the country, bringing us face to face with Black folks, young and old, rich and poor, rural and urban, gay and straight, grappling with the paradox of numerous, often contested definitions of Blackness.

Sections: QL - Retrospective
+ Info: https://www.frameline.org

/ Details

Year: 1995

Country: USA

Language: english

Subtitles: portuguese

With: Marlon T. Riggs, Bill T. Jones, Essex Hemphill, Angela Davis, Bell Hooks, Cornel West, Michele Wallace, Barbara Smith, Maulana Karenga

/ Direction

Marlon T. Riggs

USA

Marlon Troy Riggs (1957–1994) was an award-winning filmmaker, artist, educator, poet, and gay rights activist. He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1978, with a major in History. While at Harvard, Riggs pursued an independent study of the portrayal of male homosexuality in American fiction and poetry. Riggs received a master's degree in Journalism with a specialization in Documentary Film in 1981 from the University of California, Berkeley. Riggs wrote, produced, and directed eight films and videos. He also wrote numerous scholarly articles and held interviews on identity, politics, censorship, African American culture, and documentary film practice. Working during the height of the culture wars of the 1990s, Riggs examined highly contested topics within the fabric of American identity and African American culture.