RACE, SEX, & CINEMA: THE WORLD OF MARLON RIGGS Comes to BAM This February

From Wednesday, February 6 through Thursday, February 14 BAM presents Race, Sex & Cinema: The World of Marlon Riggs. Riggs (1957-1994) was an American filmmaker, professor, poet, and gay rights activist, who wrote, produced, and directed provocative, formally innovative meditations on representations of race, gender, and sexual identity in American culture. Organized by BAM's senior repertory and specialty film programmer Ashley Clark in collaboration with documentary filmmaker and longtime Riggs collaborator Vivian Kleiman, the series marks the 25th anniversary of Riggs' death from AIDS-related complications, and the 30th anniversary of the premiere of his landmark work, Tongues Untied, a poetic reflection on the experiences of black, gay men in America.

Race, Sex & Film will feature a full retrospective of Riggs' films, including his documentaries Tongues Untied, Ethnic Notions, Color Adjustment, and Black Is... Black Ain't; work by his contemporaries and influences; and the films of artists influenced by Riggs himself.

This series at BAM is the launchpad for an international celebration of Riggs' work in 2019, with screenings of Tongues Untied at venues including San Francisco's Roxie Theater, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, KASHISH Mumbai International Queer Film Festival, Ankara's PINK Life QueerFest, and more. In the fall of 2019, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive will present Tongues Untied, alongside a retrospective of Riggs' video work.

Series programmer Ashley Clark and program advisor Vivian Kleiman will be available for interviews; please contact Shelley Farmer with requests. Full titles and guests will be announced January 2019.