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.
Genre: Drama
Stars: Ben Ellison, Matthew Baidoo, Akim Mogaji, John Wilson, Dencil Williams, Guy Burgess
Crew: Isaac Julien (Director), Isaac Julien (Screenplay), Nadine Marsh-Edwards (Producer), Nina Kellgren (Director of Photography), Robert Hargreaves (Editor), Wayson Jones (Original Music Composer)
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Studio: BFI, Sankofa Film & Video
Runtime: 45 minutes
Quality: HD
Released: Oct 31, 1989
IMDb: 5.8
