The smokey, unground speakeasies of author Claude McKay return to life in Congo Cabaret.As directed by real-life husbands Deondray Gossfield and Quincy LeNear Gossfield, Congo Cabaret revives the long-silenced Harlem underground, a place where LGBTQ figures such as Langston Hughes or Mabel Hampton could go for a drink…or a bit of flirtation with someone beautiful.
The short depicts the queer Harlem underground as a place of sustained glances, speaking in thinly veiled code, and where genderqueer people could do more than just join in the conversation…they could be sexy.Related: High school closets, Haaz Sleiman in love & conversion therapy, oh my!