Tongues Untied began with wanting to film the poets. I was fascinated by this kind of collective support for a poetic form of expression. I didn't know of anything like that, especially here on the west coast, and, in fact, not in many other places in the east. Many members are first time writers, trying to get published others are very experienced and have written a lot. The Other Countries collective gets together and reads for each other and then they undergo a sort of self criticism–of the group, of their work. I conceived of a video about poets, in particular about a black gay men's poetry workshop in New York, The Other Countries Workshop. All this seemed interesting material for a documentary. I saw one anthology after another of black gay voices in poetry, short stories, and experimental essay forms. Around 1985–1986, the primary means of expression for black gay men and a black gay identity was through poetry-using all forms and all kinds of expression. About two years before I made this, a number of voices had started to speak out in a very eloquent fashion and in a very different way from what you would expect.
Marlon Riggs: In a way all the poetry that was coming out by black gay men inspired Tongues Untied. Would you talk about your use of poetry and how that relates to your use of the first person and inclusion of yourself as a voice and screen presence in the tape? Ĭhuck Kleinhans: Tongues Untied has a strong personal sense, which the extensive use of poetry contributes to. This dialogue was originally published in Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media and was prepared in written form by Julia Lesage. Marlon Riggs and Chuck Kleinhans speaking in Oakland, California after the theatrical premiere of Tongues Untied in 1989.