lgbt,harlem renaissance,gay theme

Looking for Langston (1989)

Poster for Looking for Langston

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.

Cast & Crew

Director
Isaac Julien
  • Profile picture of Dublin James Wahlberg
    Carlos Dublin James Wahlberg
  • Profile picture of Jimmy Somerville
    Angel Jimmy Somerville
  • Profile picture of Langston Hughes
    Self (archive footage) Langston Hughes
  • Profile picture of Stuart Hall
    British (voice) Stuart Hall

Recommendations

  • Poster for And Then We Danced
  • Poster for The Shawshank Redemption
  • Poster for Interstellar
  • Poster for Aquaman
  • Poster for Pulp Fiction
  • Poster for Green Book
  • Poster for The Truman Show
  • Poster for BlacKkKlansman

Keywords

  • lgbt
  • harlem renaissance
  • gay theme