Anthem
“Pervert the language.” Made at a time when Marlon Riggs was three years into living with HIV and the motto “Silence=Death” was the queer community’s defiant response to the antigay policies of the Reagan era, this experimental music video employs a mix of poetry, African beats, and provocative imagery—sexual, political, and religious—in order to challenge and redefine prevailing images of Black masculinity. Led by the liberated dancing of the filmmaker himself, Anthem is a bold vision of queer revolution, proclaiming “Every time we kiss we confirm the new world coming.”
Available In
Collector's Set
Collector's Set
Cast
- The Bella Boys
- Featuring
- Djola Bernard Branner
- Brian Freeman
- Jesse Harris
- David Barron Kirkland
- Willi Ninja
- Tim Riera
- Marlon Riggs
- Essex Hemphill
- “American Wedding” performed by
- Colin Robinson
- “Unfinished Work” performed by
- Reginald T. Jackson
- Contributing poets
- Steve Langley
- Donald Woods
- Blackberri
- “America” performed by
Credits
- Director
- Marlon Riggs
- Produced by
- Marlon Riggs
- Editor
- Christiane Badgley
- Codirector
- Christiane Badgley
- Still photography
- Ron Simmons
- Video photography
- Christiane Badgley
- Thomas Harris
- Alex Langford
- Marlon Riggs
- Calvin Roberts
- Computer graphics
- Chris Robbins
- Art design
- Christiane Badgley
- Online editor
- Ed Rudolph/Video Arts
- Sound mix
- Mark Escott/Robert Berke Sound
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