''Brother to Brother'' is a 2004 film written and directed by Rodney Evans. The film debuted at the 2004

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, where it was awarded with the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature. It went on to play the gay and lesbian

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upon ...

circuit where it collected many top festival awards. ''Brother to Brother'' was given a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in November of 2004.

Plot

Black art student Perry lives in the college dormitory at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

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 European-American, says something he considers racist, so he ends the relationship. At a social loose end, Perry befriends an elderly, impoverished African-American man named

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

, whom he discovers was an important figure in the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

. Through recalling his friendships with other important Harlem Renaissance figures

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

, Aaron Douglas,

Wallace Thurman Wallace Henry Thurman (August 16, 1902 – December 22, 1934) was an American novelist active during the Harlem Renaissance. He also wrote essays, worked as an editor, and was a publisher of short-lived newspapers and literary journals. He is be ...

, and

Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...

, Bruce chronicles some of the challenges he faced as a young, Black gay writer in the 1920s. Perry discovers that the challenges of

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

he faces in the early 21st century closely parallel Bruce's.

Cast

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...

as Perry * Roger Robinson as

Duane Boutte Duane Boutté (born March 5, 1966) is an American actor, director, and composer known in film for his portrayal of "Bostonia" in Nigel Finch, Nigel Finch's Stonewall (1995 film), ''Stonewall'' (1995), and as young "Bruce Nugent" in Rodney Evans' B ...

as young Bruce (as Duane Boutté) * Alex Burns as Jim *

Ryan Michelle Bathe Ryan Michelle Bathé (born July 27, 1976) is an American actress. Early life Bathe's mother is Clare Bathé, an actress and singer who was a member of the late 1970s funk/disco/rock group Machine. She grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. She gra ...

as Classroom Girl #2 * Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Marcus (as Larry Gilliard Jr.) * Oni Faida Lampley as Evelyn * James Martinez as Julio, Perry's boyfriend in flashbacks *

Daniel Sunjata Daniel Sunjata Condon (born December 30, 1971) is an American actor who performs in film, television and theater. He is known for his role as Franco Rivera in the FX television series '' Rescue Me''. Early life and education Sunjata was born a ...

* Ray Ford as

Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020) ...

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

Chad L. Coleman Chad L. Coleman (born September 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Dennis "Cutty" Wise on the HBO series ''The Wire'' (2004–08), Tyreese on the AMC (TV channel), AMC series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Wa ...

as El (as Chad Coleman) * Leith M. Burke as Aaron Douglas *

Aunjanue Ellis Aunjanue L. Ellis ( born February 21, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Men of Honor'' (2000), ''The Caveman's Valentine'' (2001), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), '' Ray'' (2004), '' The Express: The Erni ...

* Richard Bekins as Carl *

Bradley Cole Bradley Thomas Cole (born February 11, 1959) is an American actor. Early years Singer-songwriter, actor, and producer, Bradley "Brad" Cole was born and raised in Southern California. He began guitar lessons at 8 years old and was heavily influen ...

as MacAllister, book publisher * Lizan Mitchell as protesting woman *

Tom Wiggin Tom Wiggin (born July 6, 1955) is an American actor, writer and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating the role of nefarious businessman Kirk Anderson on the long-running soap opera ''As the World Turns''. Early life, family and education ...

as Mr. Lewis * Michael Duvert as attacker #2 *

Tracie Thoms Tracie Nicole Thoms is an Emmy-nominated American television, film, and stage actress and singer. She is known for her roles in ''Rent'', ''Cold Case'', '' The Devil Wears Prada'', ''Death Proof'', and the short-lived Fox television series ''Wo ...

as mom on subway * Curtis McClarin as Black man on subway (as Curtis L. McClarin) * Michael Mosley as white man #1 on subway

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 Essex Hemphill (April 16, 1957 – November 4, 1995) was an openly gay American poet and activist. He is known for his contributions to the Washington, D.C. art scene in the 1980s, and for openly discussing the topics pertinent to the African-Am ...

. 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. He also received funding from The Jerome Foundation, the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

and

ITVS ITVS (Independent Television Service) is a service in the United States which funds and presents documentaries on public television through distribution by PBS and American Public Television, new media projects on the Internet, and the weekly seri ...

for the production of the film. 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." The film was shot in 16mm and later blown up to

35mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics, who applauded its handling of themes of queer community and racial turmoil and fetishization. At

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, Allison Keyes wrote that "the voices of gay activists were often silenced during the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

and, before that, the Harlem Renaissance" and "''Brother to Brother'' examines this silence." In a positive review,

Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who currently writes a film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist" on Substack. Burr previously served as film critic at ''The Boston Globe'' for two ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' 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." Michael D. Klemm wrote in ''Cinema Queer'' that the film is "a revelation," "beautifully acted and directed" and "almost overflows with ideas." On review aggregate site

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, ''Brother to Brother'' has a "Certified Fresh" 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."

Awards and nominations

Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor The Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. It was first awarded in 1998, with Sonja Sohn and Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapp ...

: Anthony Mackie - nominated;

Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Director The Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award is one of the annual Gotham Independent Film Awards and honors feature film directorial debuts. Named after Bingham Ray since 2013, the breakthrough director award was first given in 1991 as the Open Pal ...

: Rodney Evans - nominated (2004) * Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Jury Award best Fiction Feature - winner (2004) *

New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival NewFest: The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival put on by The New Festival, Inc., is one of the most comprehensive forums of national and international LGBT film/video in the world. Founded in 1988, The New Festival, Inc i ...

Vanguard Award - winner (2004) * Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Jury Award for Best Feature Film - winner (2004) *

Outfest 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 ...

Grand Jury Award, Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film: Roger Robinson - winner; Outstanding American Narrative Feature - winner (2004) *

San Francisco International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival The Frameline Film Festival (aka San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival) (formerly San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival; San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival) began as a storefront event in 1976. The first ...

Audience Award Best Feature - winner (2004) *

Special Jury Prize, Dramatic - winner; Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic - nominated (2004) *

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their live ...

Outstanding Film Limited Release - nominated (2005) * Glitter Awards Best Feature Indie Gay Film - winner (2005) *

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

Best Debut Performance: Anthony Mackie - nominated; Best Supporting Male: Roger Robinson - nominated; Best First Screenplay: Rodney Evans - nominated; Best First Feature - nominated (2005)

Home media

''Brother to Brother'' was released on Region 1

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on June 14, 2004.

References

External links

Official site
* *
PBS Independent Lens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brother To Brother 2004 drama films 2004 films 2004 independent films American LGBT-related films African-American LGBT-related films African-American drama films Gay-related films LGBT-related drama films 2004 LGBT-related films Films shot in 16 mm film Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 2000s Films about anti-LGBT sentiment Sundance Film Festival award winners 2000s English-language films 2000s American films