Synopsis
A black and white, fantasy-like recreation of high-society gay men during the Harlem Renaissance, with archival footage and photographs intercut with a story. A wake is going on, with mourners gathered around a coffin. Downstairs is an elegant bar where tuxedoed men dance and talk. One of them has a dream in which he comes upon Beauty, who seems to reject him, although when he awakes, Beauty is sleeping beside him. His story and his visits to the jazz and dance club are framed by voices reading from the poetry and essays of Hughes and others. The text is rarely explicit, but the freedom of gay Black men in the 1920s in Harlem is suggested and celebrated visually.
Facts
Awards
Teddy Award
Setting
Harlem
Production
Sankofa Film and Video Collective
Original language
English
Stills
Festival History
- Telluride Film Festival 2021 generic
- International Film Festival Rotterdam 1994 generic
- Berlin International Film Festival 1989 generic
- Toronto International Film Festival 1989 generic
