Subject: stuff
From: Ron Buckmire <prince>
To: glba
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 91 00:40:44 EDT

T  O  N  G  U  E  S       U  N  T  I  E  D

                an unprecidented exploration
                     of Black Gay Life

        /Tongues Untied/ confronts the silence of pain, the grin-and-
bear-it silence, the suicide silence of the unacknowledged and tongue-
tied.  Degoratory accusations, judgments and jokes that abound in our
culture are met head-on by Marlon Riggs' highly personal 55-minute
video about black, male, gay identity.

        Poetry, personal testimony, rap and drama unite to oppose the
homophobia and racism that attempt to split black gay men into opposing
loyalties.  An impassioned and provocative work, /Tongues Untied/,
writes one critic, "slams you in the stomach while the poetry caresses
your cheek."  /Tongues Untied/ is a collaboration between Emmy Award-
winning director Riggs and a number of nationally renown black gay
organizations and artists, including poets Essex Hemphill, Alan Miller,
Steve Langley, singer/composer Blackberri, photographer/media activist
Ron Simmons, as well as Gay Men of African Descent and Black Gay Men
United.

        Funded in part by a Western States NEA Regional Fellowship and
a Film Arts Foundation Personal Works grant, /Tongues Untied/ has
received the following honors:

BEST INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL WORK, L.A. Film Critics Award
FIRST PRIZE, NEW VISIONS, San Franciso International Film Festival
BLUE RIBBON, American Film and Video Festival
FIRST PRIZE, EXPERIMENTAL, National Educational Film and Video Festival
BEST BLACK INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION, National Black Programming Consortium
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, Big Muddy Film Festival
BEST DOCUMENTARY, Berlin International Film Festival, G.T.B.
BEST VIDEO, Documentary Festival, NY
OUTSTANDING MERIT AWARD, Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame
HONORABLE MENTION, Black Maria Film Festival
HONORABLE MENTION, Black American Cinema Society
NEW WORKS PREMIERE, American Film Institute Video Festival
VIDEO VIEWPOINTS, Museum of Modern Art
GAY LIVES '89, San Franciso Film Arts Festival
BEST PERFORMANCE VIDEO, Atlanta Film and Video Festival
SPECIAL JURY AWARD, USA Film Festival
SPECIAL JURY AWARD,  Newark Museum Black Filmmakers Festival
1991 MEDIA AWARD, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

Invitatinal Screenings:

D.C. International FilmFest
Edinburgh Film Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
The Few Festival, NY
The New Festival, NY
Copenhagen International Film & Video Festival
Flaherty International Film Seminar, Riga, Latvia
International Public Television Festival, Dublic, Ireland
1991 Whitney Museum Biennial Exhibition

Broadcast:

Barcelona Television
BBC, England
--------

SHANGO.

I got this in the mail, please help by /writing/ or calling your local
PBS station and letting them know how you feel about Tongues Untied
and it's airing nationally on public television--BSP.

TONGUES UNTIED
__________________________________________________________________
Marlon T. Riggs  [street]  Berkeley, CA  415-548-3884

May 23, 1991

Sometimes the impossible dreams really do come true!  /Tongues Untied/, my
experimental documentary exploring black gay life in America will have
its /national public television/ premiere this summer.  The date:
Tuesday, July 16.  In the PBS series: POV (or Point of View).  And the
scheduled time: 10 p.m., that is, in /primetime/, when most Americans
watch television.

My contract with POV stipulates that they show the work unedited, uncut,
uncensored.  And there's the hitch: many local public television
stations are feeling quite nervous, to put it mildly, about /Tongues
Untied/'s uncompromising language and frank homoerotic imagery.
Unfortunately, many stations, as a result, may try to air it outside
of primetime (for instance, in the wee hours of the morning when few
people will be watching); or worse, some may decide not to broadcast
the program at all.

/Your local public television needs to hear from you/, to ensure that
they do the right thing!  Please call, or better yet, write, letting
them know the importance of public television's serving and addressing
/all/ Americans in all our complexity.  Commend the POV series for
including /Tongues Untied/ in their schedule, and let your local
station know that you are eagerly looking forward to lesbian/gay/bi-
sexual experience in the series (for example, /Absolutely Positive/).

It's critical that you, your organizations, your colleagues, friends
and family let your voices be heard /now/.  At this very moment, your
local PBS station is deciding how it will "handle" /Tongues Untied/;
when it will be show, and for some, even /whether/ it will be shown.
Call or write to encourage them to make the right choice, to demonstrate
leadership in becoming a forum for /enlightened/ public discussion
on questions of racial/sexual identity.  Remind them of their
fundamental public mission: to be an alternative to commercial
television, not an imitator, and thus, to honestly represent
America's rich cultural, political, and not least, sexual diversity.

I've included a list of the many internation awards and honors
/Tongues Untied/ has received since its 1989 premiere.  Feel free
to use theis information if your statin starts rationalizing that the
program is too "risky."  Remind them, too, that a key purpose of
public television is taking risks, and that among the risks of
broadcasting provocative, innovative work is the possibility that
some in the mainstream may be "offended."

In short, through POV's inclusion of /Tongues Untied/ in this summer's
line up, the foundation has been set, but it's up to us in all our
diverse communities to make sure the house gets built.  My mailing
list is limited (as are my promotional funds), so I'm hoping that
you can make copies of this letter and send it on to friends, relatives,
and organization to spread the word and increase polite pressure on
the stations.  If you need more information, please feel free to
write me at [2600 Tenth Street, Suite 106, Berkeley, CA  94710] or
call me at [415-548-3884].  I'd especially like to know how your
station responds.  Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Marlon T. Riggs
Producer, /Tongues Untied/

               State University of New York at Stony Brook
                       Stony Brook, NY 11790-0651

                                            Marc Gunning
                                            Residence Hall Director
                                            Campus Residences
                                            31-May-1991 10:07pm EDT
FROM:  MGUNNING
TO:    Lesbigay  Netters                    ( [email-masked] )

SUBJECT: Lesbigay Bookstores                                          

Here is a partial listing of some of the bigger lesbigay bookstores in the 
U.S.  Call or write them to be put on their mailing list.

A Different Light (NY) 548 Hudson Street. New Yrok, NY 10014 212-989-4850
Large selection of books and magazines, some educational videos. Overall, an 
excellent selection of resources.  The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable 
and helpful.  If you're in the city, stop in and check out their wide selection 
of lesbigay fiction.)

A Different Light (SF) 489 Castro St. San Francisco, CA 94114 419-431-0891

A Different Light (LA) 4014 Santa Monica Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90029 
  213-668-6601

Giovanni's Room 345 So. 12th Street Philadelphia, PA 19107 215-923-2960
One of the more famopus lesbigay bookstores on the East Coast.  Staff was very 
friendly and helpful when I called.

Lamda Rising 1625 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington D>C. 20009 202-462-6969
Advertised as the largest lesbigay bookstore in the country. Fun place to visit 
if you're ever in D.C. ("Attention, ladies and gentlemen, we are now having a 
special on rainbow flag stickers.  They are a subtle way to express pride and 
support. You can put them on anything:  your books, your records, your 
neighbors' cars.")  Their newsletter is very good (just got my new one today as 
a matter of fact.)

Oscar Wilde Bookstore 15 Christopher Street New York, NY 10014 212-255-8097
Smaller bookstore with limited hours (e.g. open til about 7:30 pm on Friday 
nights).  Packed with excellent resources that are often hard to come by.  
Knowledgeable, friendly staff who are willing to go out of their way to help 
you.  (And they are now celebrating their 24th year in business!)