Looking for Langston, Isaac Julien, 1989, 16mm, 46'
In this lyrical and poetic consideration of the life of revered Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes, award-winning British film-maker Isaac Julien invokes Hughes as a black gay cultural icon, against an impressionistic, atmospheric setting that parallels a Harlem speakeasy of the 1920s with an 80s London nightclub.
Extracts from Hughes' poetry are interwoven with the work of cultural figures from the 1920s and beyond, including black poets Essex Hemphill and Bruce Nugent, and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, constructing a lyrical and multilayered narrative. Julien explores the ambiguous sexual subtexts of a period of rich artistic expression, and the enduring cultural significance of these pioneers' work.
Shot in black and white by cinematographer Nina Kellgren, the film combines archival footage with newly staged set pieces, fantasy sequences, and an imagined love story. The result is a beautiful and ultimately celebratory piece about artistic expression and the nature of black gay desire.
In collaboration with MACBA: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona and Filmoteca Española.
In this lyrical and poetic consideration of the life of revered Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes.