Brother to Brother

Brother to Brother is a 2004 film written and directed by Rodney Evans. The film debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded with the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature. It went on to play the gay and lesbian film festival circuit where it collected many top festival awards. Brother to Brother was given a limited theatrical release in November of 2004. Plot Black art student Perry lives in the college dormitory at Columbia University 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, whom he discovers was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Through recalling his friendships with other important Harlem Renaissance figures Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas, Wallace Thurman, and Zora Neale Hurston, Bruce chronicles some of the challenges he faced as a young, Black gay writer in the 1920s. Perry discovers that the challenges of homophobia and racism he faces in the early 21st century closely parallel Bruce's. Cast Anthony Mackie as Perry Roger Robinson as Bruce Duane Boutte as young Bruce (as Duane Boutté) Alex Burns as Jim Ryan Michelle Bathe 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 as Langston Hughes Ray Ford as Wallace Thurman Lance Reddick as James Baldwin Chad L. Coleman as El (as Chad Coleman) Leith M. Burke as Aaron Douglas Aunjanue Ellis as Zora Neale Hurston Richard Bekins as Carl Bradley Cole as MacAllister, book publisher Lizan Mitchell as protesting woman Tom Wiggin as Mr. Lewis Michael Duvert as attacker #2 Tracie Thoms as mom on subway Curtis McClarin as Black man on subway (as Curtis L. McClarin) Michael Mosley as white man #1 on subway