Brother to Brother (film)

Last updated

Brother to Brother
Brother to brother.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rodney Evans
Written byRodney Evans
Produced byRodney Evans
Jim McKay
Isen Robbins
Aimee Schoof
Starring Anthony Mackie
Roger Robinson
Duane Boutte
CinematographyHarlan Bosmajian
Edited bySabine Hoffmann
Music by Barney McAll
Marc Anthony Thompson
Dave Warrin
Distributed by Wolfe Releasing [1]
Release dates
  • January 17, 2004 (2004-01-17)(Sundance)
  • November 5, 2004 (2004-11-05)(United States)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$80,906 [2]

Brother to Brother is a 2004 film written and directed by Rodney Evans. The film debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded with the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature. It went on to play the gay and lesbian film festival circuit where it collected many top festival awards. Brother to Brother was given a limited theatrical release in November 2004.

Contents

Plot

Black art student Perry lives in the college dormitory at Columbia University after his homophobic parents kick him out of home when they discover he is gay. He is romantically pursued by another student, but his prospective boyfriend, who is white, says something he considers racist, so he ends the relationship. At a social loose end, Perry befriends an elderly, impoverished man named Bruce, whom he discovers was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Through recalling his friendships with other important Harlem Renaissance figures Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas, Wallace Thurman, and Zora Neale Hurston, Bruce chronicles some of the challenges he faced as a young, Black gay writer in the 1920s. Perry discovers that the challenges of homophobia and racism he faces in the early 21st century closely parallel Bruce's.

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by a 1991 anthology titled Brother to Brother: New Writing by Black Gay Men. The editing of the book was started by Joseph Beam and, when he died in 1988, finished by Essex Hemphill. Director Rodney Evans chose the title for his film. His screenplay for the film was the recipient of The Independent Feature Project's Gordon Parks Award for Screenwriting. [3] He also received funding from The Jerome Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and ITVS for the production of the film. [4]

In an interview after the film's release, Evans said: "I thought of the film as a cinematic corollary to that book, which looked at Black gay life from different perspectives. I thought the piece was about relationships between Black men; the relationships were not necessarily sexual and the men were not necessarily gay." [5]

The film was shot in 16mm and later blown up to 35mm. [3]

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics, who applauded its handling of themes of queer community and racial turmoil and fetishization. At NPR, Allison Keyes wrote that "the voices of gay activists were often silenced during the civil rights movement and, before that, the Harlem Renaissance" and "Brother to Brother examines this silence." [6]

In a positive review, Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote, "The larger context -- of whether the African-American struggle can include black homosexuality as part of its rebellion and one of its voices without having a meltdown -- is put across with admirable finesse. It isn't merely nice that Perry can take strength from a survivor like Nugent. As this promising film insists, it's necessary." [7]

Michael D. Klemm wrote in Cinema Queer that the film is "a revelation," "beautifully acted and directed" and "almost overflows with ideas". [8]

On review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, Brother to Brother has an approval rating of 76% based on 45 critics' reviews. The site's critics consensus states: "Led by two fine lead performances, Brother to Brother is a moving and thought-provoking dramatization of the Harlem Renaissance." [9]

Awards and nominations

Home media

Brother to Brother was released on Region 1 DVD on June 14, 2004. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Julien</span> British artist and film director (born 1960)

Sir Isaac Julien is a British installation artist, filmmaker, and Distinguished Professor of the Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Bruce Nugent</span> American writer and artist (1906–1987)

Richard Bruce Nugent, aka Richard Bruce and Bruce Nugent, was an American gay writer and painter in the Harlem Renaissance. Despite being a part of a group of many gay Harlem artists, Nugent was among the handful who were publicly out. Recognized initially for the few short stories and published paintings, Nugent had a long productive career bringing to light the creative process of gay and black culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenni Olson</span> American filmmaker (born 1962)

Jenni Olson is a writer, archivist, historian, consultant, and non-fiction filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. She co-founded the pioneering LGBT website PlanetOut.com. Her two feature-length essay films — The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015) — premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her work as an experimental filmmaker and her expansive personal collection of LGBTQ film prints and memorabilia were acquired in April 2020 by the Harvard Film Archive, and her reflection on the last 30 years of LGBT film history was published as a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Queer Cinema from Oxford University Press in 2021. In 2020, she was named to the Out Magazine Out 100 list. In 2021, she was recognized with the prestigious Special TEDDY Award at the Berlin Film Festival. She also campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides.

Patrik-Ian Polk is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Polk, who is gay, is noted for his films and theatre work that explore the experiences and stories of African-American LGBT people. In 2016, Polk was included in the Los Angeles Times Diverse 100 list, which described him as "the man bringing black gay stories to screens large and small".

Nancy Kates is an independent filmmaker based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She directed Regarding Susan Sontag, a feature documentary about the late essayist, novelist, director and activist. Through archival footage, interviews, still photographs and images from popular culture, the film reflects the boldness of Sontag’s work and the cultural importance of her thought, and received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Sundance Documentary Film Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thom Fitzgerald</span> American film director

Thomas "Thom" Fitzgerald is an American-Canadian film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright and producer.

<i>Go Fish</i> (film) 1994 film by Rose Troche

Go Fish is a 1994 American comedy drama film written by Guinevere Turner and Rose Troche and directed by Rose Troche. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994, and was the first film to be sold to a distributor, Samuel Goldwyn, during that event for $450,000. The film was released during Pride Month in June 1994 and eventually grossed $2.5 million. The film was seen as groundbreaking for celebrating lesbian culture on all levels, and it launched the career of director Troche and Turner. Go Fish is said to have proved the marketability of lesbian issues for the film industry.

<i>Urbania</i> (film) 2000 American film

Urbania is a 2000 independent drama film based on the play Urban Folk Tales. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, then played the Toronto International Film Festival, the Seattle Film Festival, and a number of LGBT film festivals, winning a total of 6 "Best Film" awards. It was released by Lionsgate and was named "One of the Year's Best Films" in over 35 publications including the Los Angeles Times, Time Out, the Chicago Tribune, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival, the New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival, and the Inside Out Film and Video Festival, in launching the North American Queer Festival Alliance, an initiative to further publicize and promote LGBT film.

<i>Small Town Gay Bar</i> 2006 American documentary

Small Town Gay Bar is a 2006 documentary film directed by Malcolm Ingram that focuses on two gay bars in the rural deep Southeast United States, one in Shannon, Mississippi, and one in Meridian, Mississippi. The documentary was produced by View Askew Productions with Kevin Smith serving as executive producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddy Award</span> LGBT film award of the Berlin International Film Festival

The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival. For the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay and lesbian film festivals, who view films screened in all sections of the Berlinale; films do not have to have been part of the festival's official competition stream to be eligible for Teddy awards. Subsequently, a list of films meeting criteria for LGBT content is selected by the jury, and a 3,000-Euro Teddy is awarded to a feature film, a short film and a documentary.

<i>Be Like Others</i> 2008 Canada, United Kingdom, United States, France film

Be Like Others: The Story of Transgendered Young Women Living in Iran is a 2008 documentary film written and directed by Tanaz Eshaghian about trans people in Iran. It explores issues of gender and sexual identity while following the personal stories of some of the patients at a Tehran gender reassignment clinic. The film played at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, winning three awards.

Sally El-Hosaini is a Welsh-Egyptian BAFTA nominated film director and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Allen Harris</span>

Thomas Allen Harris is a critically acclaimed, interdisciplinary artist who explores family, identity, and spirituality in a participatory practice. Since 1990, Harris has remixed archives from multiple origins throughout his work, challenging hierarchy within historical narratives through the use of pioneering documentary and research methodologies that center vernacular image and collaboration. He is currently working on a new television show, Family Pictures USA, which takes a radical look at neighborhoods and cities of the United States through the lens of family photographs, collaborative performances, and personal testimony sourced from their communities..

<i>Pariah</i> (2011 film) Film by Dee Rees

Pariah is a 2011 American drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike, a 17-year-old Black teenager embracing her identity as a lesbian. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Ahn</span> American film director

Andrew Ahn is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed the feature films Spa Night (2016), Driveways (2019), and Fire Island (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Phang</span> American filmmaker

Jennifer Phang is an American filmmaker, most known for her feature films Advantageous (2015) and Half-Life (2008). Advantageous premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision, and was based on her award-winning short film of the same name. Half-Life premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and won "Best Film" awards at a number of film festivals including the Gen Art Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival as well an "Emerging Director Award" at the Asian American International Film Festival.

Rodney Evans is an American filmmaker and lecturer based in New York City. Evans was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in modern culture and media from Brown University in 1993, and a Master of Fine Arts in film production from the California Institute of the Arts in 1996.

Johnny Symons is a documentary filmmaker focusing on LGBT cultural and political issues. He is a professor in the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University, where he runs the documentary program and is the director and co-founder of the Queer Cinema Project. He received his BA from Brown University and his MA in documentary production from Stanford University. He has served as a Fellow in the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jen Tullock</span> American actress

Jen Tullock is an American actress and writer best known for her role as Devon in Apple TV's Emmy nominated series Severance and Anita St. Pierre in HBO's Perry Mason.

References

  1. ↑ Hernandez, Eugene (June 18, 2004). "Wolfe Gets "Brother to Brother," Rodney Evans' Film About Black Gay Life". IndieWire. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Brother to Brother (2004)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. 1 2 Judell, Brandon (November 4, 2004). ""Brother to Brother" And then Some: Rodney Evans Flashes on the Harlem Renaissance". IndieWire. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Brother to Brother". Independent Television Service. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  5. ↑ Davis, Andrew (December 1, 2004). "Rodney Evans: Talking Brother to Brother". Windy City Times . Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  6. ↑ Keyes, Allison. "'Brother To Brother': Blacks and Homosexuality". NPR.org. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ Burr, Ty (February 4, 2005). "Brother to Brother". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  8. ↑ Klemm, Michael D. (September 2005). "Sentimental Journey". Cinema Queer. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Brother to Brother". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Wolfe Gets "Brother to Brother," Rodney Evans' Film About Black Gay Life". IndieWire. June 18, 2004. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Queering the Canon: BROTHER TO BROTHER (2004)". NewFest. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  12. 1 2 Brooks, Brian (August 2, 2004). ""Brother to Brother" Fulfills Gay Fest Sweep with Philadelphia Award". IndieWire. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  13. ↑ "2004 Sundance Film Festival". sundance.org. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Nominees for the 16th Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. January 19, 2005. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Independent bids for Spirit Awards". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 2004. Retrieved October 28, 2022.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.