''Chocolate Babies'' is a 1996 American

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

directed by

Stephen Winter Stephen or Steven is a common English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Ac ...

. The film follows a group of queer activists of color in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that implemented actions against conservative politicians in response to the

AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

in the 1990s within African American communities.

Cast

* Dudley Findlay Jr. - Larva * Bryan Webster - Councilman Melvin Freeman * Gregg Ferguson - Jamela *

Michael Hyatt Charlene "Michael" Hyatt is a British-born American actress. Before her work in film and television, she performed on stages throughout the United States, particularly in ''Ragtime'' on Broadway. She has played Brianna Barksdale on ''The Wire'' ...

- Lauretta * Claude E. Sloan - Max * Jon Kit Lee - Sam * Michael Lynch - Lady Marmalade * Sean Barr - Red Haired Politician * Jon Kit Lee

Release

The film premiered on 21 July 1996 at

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 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The film's world premiere at the

47th Berlin International Film Festival The 47th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1997. The Golden Bear was awarded to Canadian-American film ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' directed by Miloš Forman. The retrospective dedicated to Austrian film ...

in the section Panorama. Despite receiving praise and critical acclaim at festivals, the film didn't receive a wide distribution. Winters commented on this: "Unless some company gave it some kind of credence and distribution and allowed it to be seen by people, beyond here and there, it wasn’t going to be seen." In September 2021, the film was taken up as a Criterion Classic by the

Criterion Channel The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

Critical reception

The film received the Honorable Mention for Narrative Feature in 1997 at the

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

as well as the award for best feature at

New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender 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 ...

1997. The film also received a Honorable Mention at Urbanworld Film Festival. Film historian Elizabeth Purchell included the film in a selection of "underseen (or just plain forgotten)" queer films.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chocolate Babies 1996 films 1996 LGBT-related films American independent films LGBT African-American culture American LGBT-related films Films shot in New York City Historiography of LGBT in New York City HIV/AIDS in American films African-American LGBT-related films African-American films 1996 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films