Signifyin’ Works was co-founded by Marlon T. Riggs and Vivian Kleiman in 1991 as a non-profit corporation to research, produce and distribute educational media in all formats that examine past and present issues with a particular focus on the African-American experience.

To Rent or Purchase Videos Please Contact:
California Newsreel: 149 Ninth St, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Toll Free: 1-877-811-7495 | www.newsreel.org

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Currently in Production:

Promises to Keep: 50 Years of School Desegregation

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Promises to Keep will explore issues of race and education in America today. Through a case study of Louisville's Central High School, this one-hour documentary will probe the unanticipated consequences of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case.

Executive Producer: Llewellyn Smith
Producer/Director: Vivian Kleiman
Associate Producer: Jennifer Petrucelli

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Founders Biographies:

Marlon T. Riggs

A native of Texas and graduate of Harvard College (1978) and the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Journalism (1981), Marlon Riggs launched his career with his student thesis film Long Train Running: The Story of the Oakland Blues (1981), voted Best Documentary, American Film Institute’s National Video Festival.

Riggs established a reputation for his insightful and controversial films confronting racism and homophobia with his first major work, Ethnic Notions (1987), which received a National Emmy Award, and top honors in such media showcases as the San Francisco International Film Festival and American Film Festival. This one-hour documentary examines the representation of African Americans in popular culture and the construction of stereotypes.

Riggs went on to produce, direct and edit the ground-breaking experimental documentary film Tongues Untied (1989), a controversial examination of black gay sexuality from a personal point of view. The video was awarded a Blue Ribbon in the American Film Festival and Best Experimental Video at the San Francisco International Film Festival. It was also screened in the Berlin, Melbourne, London and Montreal International Film Festivals. Television broadcasts included national PBS and BBC.

He then went on to produce and direct the award winning Affirmations (1990) and Anthem (1991). As producer, director and writer of the feature-length documentary Color Adjustment (1991), Riggs was the recipient of the 1992 Peabody Award, Eric Barnouw Award and International Documentary Association’s Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award. Color Adjustment analyzes the representation of African Americans in prime time television, from Amos ‘n’ Andy to The Cosby Show. It has screened in Berlin, Australia, Spain, Russia, Israel and Hawaii.

In 1992, Riggs completed Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (No Regret), in which he interviewed HIV-positive African-American men. The documentary won the Juror’s Choice Award at the Black Maria Film and Video Festival, Best "Black Experience" Film/Video from the 8th Annual Black International Cinema, and Best Cultural Affairs Documentary from the National Black Programming Consortium’s Prized Pieces Award.

On April 5, 1994, Riggs died of complications of AIDS at age 37. At the time, he was in the process of completing what would be his final film. Black Is…Black Ain’t, a feature-length semi-autobiographical exploration of African-American identity, was posthumously completed by Signifyin’ Works.

Vivian Kleiman

Vivian Kleiman has been awarded top prizes including the George Foster Peabody Award, International Documentary Association's Outstanding Achievement Award, Organization of American Historians' Eric Barnouw Award, and a National Emmy nomination.

Her credits include: First Person Plural (Executive Producer), a personal film by Producer/Director Deann Borshay about her adoption from Korea and assimilation to an American suburb; Hope Along The Wind (Executive Producer), a profile of Harry Hay, founder of America's first gay rights movement; Forgotten Fires (Co-Producer with Michael Chandler), a look at the startling family and community relationships which surfaced in South Carolina after two black churches were burned by members of the Ku Klux Klan as it follows one man's journey from hatred to reconciliation; Roam Sweet Home (Co- Producer with Ellen Spiro), a quirky look at people who live full time in recreational vehicles; Black Is...Black Ain't (Signifyin’ Works’ executive in charge of its posthumous completion), Marlon Riggs' final essay about black identity; Color Adjustment (Co-Producer with Marlon Riggs), an analysis of the representation of African Americans in prime time television from Amos 'n' Andy to The Cosby Show; Tongues Untied (Cinematographer), Riggs' landmark exploration of the lives of black gay men in America; Routes of Exile (Co-Producer and Research Director), which chronicles 2000 years of co-existence among Jews, Arabs and Berbers in Morocco.

Kleiman's short works include My Body's My Business, an insider’s look at the impact of AIDS on prostitutes and how they negotiate safer sex. This film was noted as "the most respectful of women of any AIDS video" by the National Women's Health Network and screened at New York's MOMA and Guggenheim Museums. Judy Chicago: The Birth Project circulated with the exhibit to museums, galleries and college campuses across the country. She also was invited to direct Ein Stehaufmannchen, a chronicle of a German Jewish family of grape growers and their experiences during World War II.

Kleiman is a member of the adjunct faculty at Stanford University’s Department of Communication Graduate Program in Documentary Film and Video Production. In addition, she is a member of the board of directors of the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF).

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Signifyin’ Works Board of Directors

Herman Gray, Treasurer, is Professor of Sociology at University of California at Santa Cruz. His research focuses on popular culture and media studies. His books include "Watching Race: Television and the Sign of Blackness" and "Producing Jazz: The Experience of an Independent Record Company". He is currently writing a book on black cultural politics.

Vivian Kleiman, President. See biography above.

Patricia Turner, Vice President, is Vice Provost for undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis. A scholar of African-American studies, her books include: "I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African-Ainerican Culture," "Ceramic Uncles" and "Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture," and "Whispers on the Color Line: Rumor and Race in America."


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