Looking for Langston 1989

Synopsis:

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.

Directed by: Isaac Julien
Written by: Isaac Julien
Release date: 1989-10-31
Runtime: 45 minutes
Cast:
Ben Ellison
Ben Ellison
Alex 
Matthew Baidoo
Matthew Baidoo
Beauty 
Akim Mogaji
Akim Mogaji
James 
John Wilson
John Wilson
Karl 
Dencil Williams
Dencil Williams
Marcus 
Guy Burgess
Guy Burgess
Dean