upcoming grant deadline: 05/15/2024
Philly Queer Media Series presents recent films by Philadelphia-based multi-media artist Tiona McClodden (ATR '12, LTA '09, ACG '07) about queer African American communities and politics. Tiona will screen her new short narrative film about HIV/AIDS Bumming Cigarettes as well as selections from her feature-length documentary The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project. Sunday April 13 from 5:00pm – 7:00pm
at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street).
Bumming Cigarettes is a short film about a brief and intimate meeting between a young Black lesbian woman who is in the process of taking an HIV test and a middle aged Black Gay HIV Positive man. Coming off of the devastation of a bad breakup with a girlfriend, Vee musters up the courage to go and take an HIV test to put her worst fears to rest. What she experiences during her trip to a local clinic is much more than she expects while sharing a cigarette with a stranger, Jimmy, during the 10 minutes that she awaits her test results.
The Untitled Black Lesbian Elder Project (UBLEP)-{working title} is a feature-length documentary film highlighting interviews with black lesbian elders in their 60s, 70s and 80s from across the United States. UBLEP situates the elders’ stories within a range of historical movements, spanning the decades between the 1930s and the 1980s. Featuring 8-10 profiles of elders, UBLEP will reveal rare images of black lesbian life and history through the use of accompanying archival footage and personal ephemera. UBLEP will also bring to light a number of black lesbian underground movements, solidifying a black lesbian presence within overall American black history.
