Looking for Langston (1989)

Biography, Drama, Short Film

Director: Isaac Julien

Writer(s): Isaac Julien

Starring: Ben Ellison, Matthew Baidoo, Akim Mogaji, John Wilson, Dencil Williams, Guy Burgess, James Dublin, Harry Donaldson, Jimmy Somerville, Stuart Hall, Langston Hughes

Synopsis: This stylish avant-garde film is a nod to the work of acclaimed black poet Langston Hughes. The film reclaims and celebrates Hughes as an important black gay voice in American culture. Original footage of the Cotton Club in the 1920s, archival footage depicting the Harlem Renaissance period and Robert Mapplethorpe’s photos of hunky black men set the scene for this exploration of attitudes toward homosexuality.

Release Date: October 1, 1989 (USA) | Length: 45 min | Genre: Biography, Drama | Certificate: R

Note: I need to see this film to better identify people.