''Chocolate Babies'' is a 1996 American film directed by Stephen Winter. The film follows a group of queer activists of color in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

that implemented actions against conservative politicians in response to the

AIDS epidemic The global pandemic 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), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...

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 (born February 17, 1970) 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 played Brianna Bar ...

- 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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The film's world premiere was 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 f ...

in the section Panorama. Despite receiving praise and critical acclaim at festivals, the film did not 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". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributor ...

Critical reception

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

SXSW Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

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 NewFest (legal name The New Festival, Inc.), is the largest LGBTQ film festival in the United States and one of the most comprehensive forums of national and inte ...

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 LGBTQ-related films American independent films LGBTQ African-American culture American LGBTQ-related films Films shot in New York City LGBTQ historiography in New York City HIV/AIDS in American films African-American LGBTQ-related films African-American films 1996 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language independent films