ISSUE hosts the New York premiere of Friend of Essex—a film homage to the prolific Black gay author Essex Hemphill. Written and Directed by Amir Dixon, Friend of Essex is a mix of one-on-one interviews, group interviews, narrative pieces and poetry inspired by Essex Hemphill’s writing and the 1989 film Tongues Untied by Marlon Riggs. A piece in the film entitled, “Dear White Jesus” explores homophobia and its direct connections to racism. The interviews and pieces in Friend of Essex focus on the importance of community among young black gay men; and themes explored throughout the film are race, racism in the LGBTQ community, masculinity, homophobia, religion, homelessness, sexual and gender identity, Black manhood and the HIV epidemic of which young black gay men are alarmingly at the epicenter.
Written and Directed by Amir Dixon
Photographed and Edited by Ryan Mahoney