Introducing the

Queer Harlem Renaissance

A multimedia series of short films and documentaries about the unsung, yet influential LGBTQ+ community of the Harlem Renaissance - one of the most revered movements of Black art & culture in America.


Meet:

Daveed Diggs

Special Collaborator

An Oakland native & early collaborator of Shoga Films, the actor/musician rose to fame in 2015 as an original cast member in the Broadway smash hit musical, HAMILTON for which he won both a Grammy Award and Tony Award. He is also the vocalist of the experimental hip hop group, Clipping.

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Congo Cabaret

Why “Congo Cabaret”?

All part of the master plan to turn literary artifacts of the Queer Harlem Renaissance into beautiful cinema. Congo Cabaret was an adaptation of a scene from the 1926 novel by queer Jamaican writer Claude Mckay.


Because McKay was bisexual, he included gay and lesbian characters in his panoramic view of 1920s Harlem, a unique move at a time when homosexuality was considered to be a mental illness or criminal behavior. In the novel, the cabaret is owned by a queer character, Billy the Wolf. Wolf was Harlem slang for a masculine gay, a largely unknown type outside of the subculture.


“I guess I’se the happiest, well-feddest wolf in Harlem,” Billy happily proclaims with his arms over the shoulders of two lovers.


Listen to what Russell Richardson (@iamrussellr) has to say.

Meet:

Darryl Stephens

Special Collaborator

Darryl Stephens was a special collaborator on the Congo Cabaret project.

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T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920's

Meet:

Jewelle Gomez

Special Collaborator

An American author, poet, critic and playwright whose writing centers on women's experiences, particularly those of LGBTQ women of color. She is best known for her lesbian vampire novel -- the first of its kind -- The Gilda Stories. Her latest play, Leaving the Blues, is based on the life of the lesbian blues singer Alberta Hunter.

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Smoke, Lilies and Jade

Meet:

Billy Porter

Special Collaborator

A multi-talented performer from Pittsburgh, he won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots. He currently stars in the television series, Pose for which he won the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, becoming the first openly gay black man to win in any lead acting category.


Bessie Shows Her Ass

SCRIPT:


A PARTYGOER 1

 

I *love* Bessie's singing! Takes me right back to Bumfuck, Mississippi where I grew up. Funny thing, tho. All these blues ‘bout "my man treats me so bad." Bessie ain't that kind of woman.

 

PARTYGOER 2 

Yeah, she's a hard drinker and a stone-cold maneater.

 

PARTYGOER 1

 (laughing) 

I heard she's a woman-eater too!

 

PARTYGOER 2

(purposely lampooning "Negro" dialect)

Well, hush my mouf! 

 

He turns to Grainger

 

Let's go to the source.

 

PORTER GRAINGER

 I'm not paid to gossip, but if I were, there are some stories I could tell.

Meet:

Quincy LeNear & Deondray Gossfield

Special Collaborators

Quincy LeNear and Deondray Gossfield are the creators of the award-winning cable anthology series, THE DL CHRONICLES, a series about men of color who lead double lives, which premiered internationally on the cable network Here! TV in 2007. A recipient of the 2008 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Television Anthology, it earned the added distinction of being the first African American television series to be nominated and win the coveted award.


The Gossfields began working with Shoga Films in 2018 with the production of CONGO CABARET, which received acclaim and appeared in multiple film festivals. Following up on the success of their first collaboration with Shoga, they returned to direct and produce the upcoming, Richard Bruce Nugent adaption, SMOKE, LILIES & JADE.


The Gossfields have also developed/produced TV series such as The Zane Chronicles (HBO/Cinemax), Face Off (Syfy), Family Dance Off (ABC), Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew (MTV), The Sing Off (NBC), Make Your Mark Shake It Up Dance Off (The Disney Channel), and The Laugh Factor (The CW).

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