African-American documentary filmmaker Marlon Riggs was working on this final film as he died from AIDS-related complications in 1994; he addresses the camera from his hospital bed in several scenes. The film directly addresses sexism and homophobia within the black community, with snippets of misogynistic and anti-gay slurs from popular hip-hop songs juxtaposed with interviews with African-American intellectuals and political theorists, including Cornel West, bell hooks and Angela Davis.
Direction
Riggs directing from his hospital bed — cinema as last will.
Writing
Bell hooks and Cornel West drop truth bombs you'll rewind.
Editing
Jarring hip-hop samples force confrontation with community complicity.
Director
Marlon Riggs
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released months after Riggs' death, it premiered at Sundance and sparked debates about whether white audiences should even view intimate Black trauma.
Riggs' earlier film Tongues Untied (1989) was defunded by the NEA after Jesse Helms called it 'pornographic' — this was his defiant, dying response.
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