Outfest UCLA Legacy Project’s In The Life Media Collection:Interview with Marlon Riggs

In this 1992 interview at UCLA, Marlon T. Riggs describes how his identity as a Black gay filmmaker informs the labelling and discussion of his work, and how his filmmaking practice expands beyond these categories. Riggs also discusses the lack of Black representation in cinema, both mainstream and gay and lesbian, emphasizing the need for intersectional approaches to fighting censorship and advocating for freedom of expression. He describes how white privilege and patriarchy are maintained through culture, specifically how the exclusion and silencing of Black voices contribute to a “pathological denial of reality” within American society.

Credit: Outfest UCLA Legacy Project’s In The Life Media Collection

Riggs’ documentary films are currently being exhibited in The Sodomite Invasion at Griffin Art Projects.

Marlon T. Riggs (1957-1994) was a Black gay writer, filmmaker, educator and social activist. Riggs graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1978 and from the University of California, Berkeley, with a master’s degree in journalism in 1981. Throughout his career Riggs produced, wrote and directed several innovative and provocative documentary films that examine Black identity and the role of African Americans in the United States, including titles such as Ethnic Notions, Tongues Untied, and Color Adjustment. Riggs did not live to see the completion of his final film, Black Is… Black Ain’t. He died on April 5, 1994 of an AIDS-related illness. Riggs’ exhibition is complemented by a series of photographic portraits by American artist Lyle Ashton Harris, who collaborated with the filmmaker prior to his death.