28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

24. 10.–2. 11. 2025
Log inČeštinaEnglish
Tongues Untiedplay
Tongues Untied

Tongues Untied

Marlon Riggs / United States / 1989 / 55 min.


synopsis

This cinematic poem and voiceband in one is an audiovisual expression of the eponymous “tongues untied,” serving as a symbolic break of the silence that has plagued the Black American homosexual community for a long time. It becomes solely a manifesto for identifying a difference that has been consciously enforced between the predominantly black heterosexual majority and the alienated white gay minority. The question of race divides not only society as a whole, but also the minorities themselves all across the board. The heavily poeticised text of the film presented in an occasional rap rhythm of mixed voices is largely a self-confident commitment to an experience that is exceptional against its own will.

biography

Marlon Riggs (1957–1994) byl afroamerický filmař, pedagog, básník a aktivista za práva gayů. Po absolvování univerzity prošel na různých pozicích praxí při natáčení dokumentů pro nezávislá studia. Dokumentární film také vyučoval na univerzitě v Berkeley. Ve své tvorbě se zaměřoval na problematiku reprezentace pohlaví a rasy, hlavně s ohledem na projevy homofobie vyjadřované americkou společností.

more about film

director: Marlon Riggs

Film at festival

festival edition:2020
section:Black Cinema Matters

Info

director:Marlon Riggs
original title:Tongues Untied
country:United States
year:1989
running time:55 min.

Festival partners

Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
Creative Europe Media
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms

Newsletter

I confirm that I agree with Principles Relating to Personal Data Processing for Ji.hlava IDFF. More info here.

Days until the festival

0