Black Films at 2012 Los Angeles Film FestivalPosted by Wilson Morales
June 12, 2012
From Thursday, June 14 to Sunday, June 24 the 2012 Los Angelese Film Festival will showcase a number of films hoping to land distribution deals for theatrical release.
Now in its eighteenth year, the LAFF, supported by L.A. LIVE and The Los Angeles Times, is widely recognized as a world-class event, showcasing the best in new American and international cinema and providing the movie-loving public with access to some of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers, film industry professionals, and emerging talent from around the world.
Some notables have already secure release dates such as the Sundance favorite ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild,’ Ava DuVernay‘s ‘Middle of Nowhere,’ ‘Celeste and Jesse Forever‘ with Rashida Jones, and producer Datari Turner‘s ‘LUV.’
Here’s a list of selected films (of color) worth seeing:
A Band Called Death
Documentary Competition
(USA, 2012, 98 mins)
World Premiere
Directed By: Jeff Howlett,
Mark Covino
Producers: Matthew Perniciaro, Scott Mosier, Kevin Mann, Jerry Ferrara
Cinematographer: Mark Covino
Editor: Rich Fox
Music: Sam Retzer, Tim Boland
Featuring: David Hackney, Bobby Hackney, Sr., Dannis Hackney
Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early ’70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn’t until recently — when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby’s attic nearly 30 years after Death’s heyday — that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them.
Equal parts electrifying rockumentary and epic family chronicle, the story of Death is one of brotherly love and fierce, divinely inspired expression.
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Galas
(USA, 2011, 91 mins)
Directed By: Benh Zeitlin
Executive Producers: Philipp Engelhorn, Paul Mezey, Michael Raisler
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn
Screenwriters: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Cinematographer: Ben Richardson
Editors: Crockett Doob, Affonso Gonçalves
Music: Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin
Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry
On an isolated stretch of land called the Bathtub, in the midst of the Mississippi Delta, six-year-old Hushpuppy and her father lead a fiercely independent existence, one seemingly built upon the flotsam and jetsam from a recently struck catastrophe… or perhaps one that is yet to come. First time actors Dwight Henry and Quvenzhané Wallis give powerhouse performances as father and daughter, two souls whose devotion to each other takes on mythic proportions. In this arresting work of fantastical realism, writer/director/composer Benh Zeitlin conjures a startling, triumphant vision of a childhood at the edge of the natural world.
Call Me Kuchu
Documentary Competition
(USA, 2012, 87 mins)
In English, Luganda with English subtitles
US Premiere
Directed By: Katherine Fairfax Wright,
Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Executive Producer: Jeff Blitz
Producer: Malika Zouhali-Worrall
Cinematographer: Katherine Fairfax Wright
Music: Jonathan Mandabach
Editor: Katherine Fairfax Wright
To be openly gay in Uganda is to risk imprisonment and death. The stirring and heartbreaking Call Me Kuchu exposes the horrors of a homophobic government — its hatred fueled by right wing American evangelicals — that terrorizes the LGBT community. Yet brave men and women like David Kato, the country’s first openly gay activist, have fought back at great risk. This intimate and impassioned documentary takes us inside this life and death struggle for human rights. Whether you are familiar with Katos’s story or hearing it for the first time, you will find this a shattering and inspiring testament.
Celeste and Jesse Forever
Summer Showcase
(USA, 2011, 91 mins)
Directed By: Lee Toland Krieger
Executive Producers: Rashida Jones, Will McCormack
Producers: Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd, Lee Nelson
Screenwriters: Rashida Jones, Will McCormack
Cinematographer: David Lanzenberg
Editor: Yana Gorskaya
Music: Zach Cowie, Sunny Levine
Cast: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Chris Messina, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Will McCormack, Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts
Celeste and Jesse are having as hard a time falling out of love as most people have falling in. A Los Angeles couple who married young, they are now going through an “amicable” divorce. Their goal is to remain best friends in spite of this rift, but in Lee Toland Krieger’s fresh, delightful romantic comedy, that proves easier said than done.
Rising star Rashida Jones, who co-wrote the screenplay with Will McCormack, is the overachieving businesswoman Celeste. Andy Samberg is the witty, underachieving Jesse. Their patent chemistry makes their growing estrangement all the more poignant, as well as funny, in this beguiling and surprising anti-love story.
Four
Narrative Competition
(USA, 2012, 76 mins)
World Premiere
Directed By: Joshua Sanchez
Executive Producer: Neil LaBute
Producer: Christine Giorgio
Screenwriter: Joshua Sanchez
Cinematographer: Gregg Conde
Editor: David Gutnik
Music: Bryan Senti
Cast: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, Aja Naomi King, EJ Bonilla
Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, four people discover the difficulties of making an honest connection with someone else when they are trapped by the lies they tell themselves.
In Joshua Sanchez’s psychologically and ethnically complex adaptation of an acclaimed Christopher Shinn play, a father and daughter, each enshrouded in loneliness, reach out for sexual intimacy: he with a nervous, self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy. Wendell Pierce, Aja Naomi King, EJ Bonilla and Emory Cohen shine in this touching, sometimes raw depiction of the evasions, power games and isolation of everyday American life.
Gimme the Loot
Summer Showcase
(USA, 2012, 81 mins)
Directed By: Adam Leon
Producers: Natalie Difford, Dominic Buchanan, Jamund Washington
Screenwriter: Adam Leon
Cinematographer: Jonathan Miller
Editor: Morgan Faust
Music: Nicholas Britell
Cast: Tashiana Washington, Ty Hickson, Meeko, Zoe Lescaze
The game of graffiti art comes with few rules and a lot of bravado, as young Sofia and Malcolm discover when they try to defend their name after their latest spraypaint masterpiece is defaced by a rival gang. Over the next 48 hours, the two roam the sun-drenched streets of New York, hatching schemes to get enough cash for their master plan — “bombing” the famous apple in the Mets’ stadium — all the while figuring out their role in the underground scene and with each other.
With irresistible performances from its two leads, Gimme the Loot is a warm, spirited look at two kids just trying to get by, one tag at a time.
The Iran Job
Documentary Competition
(Germany , Iran , USA, 2012, 93 mins)
In English, Farsi with English subtitles
World Premiere
Directed By: Till Schauder
Executive Producer: Abigail Disney
Producers: Sara Nodjoumi, Till Schauder
Cinematographer: Till Schauder
Editor: David Teague
Music: Shahin Nadjafi, Jadugaran, ZedBazi, A2, Kareem Roustum
Featuring: Kevin Sheppard, Leah Sheppard, Hilda, Laleh , Elaheh, Abdullah, Zoran “Z” Milicic, Center, Kami Jamshidvand, Forward, Ali Doraghi, Center, Mehdi Shirjang, Forward, Gholamreza Khajeh, Team Owner, Asadollah Kabir, Coach, Fereidoon Reisi, Manager, Mohammad Ahmadi, Analysis Coach, Ehsan, Driver
Director Till Schauder spent a year in Iran with journeyman American pro basketball player Kevin Sheppard, who signed on to play for the upstart Iranian Super League team A.S. Shiraz as one of two non-Iranian players (his roommate is a giant Serb). This lively, well-told tale is not simply a standard “fish out of water” sports doc: it’s also a snapshot of the radical fissures in Iranian society. Sheppard, a gregarious charmer, makes friends wherever he goes and forms a fascinating relationship with three strong, independent Iranian women who bristle at the restrictions of an oppressive theocracy. Their touching, unlikely bond makes for an illuminating study in cross cultural understanding.
LUV
Free Screenings
(USA, 2012, 96 mins)
Directed By: Sheldon Candis
Executive Producer: Thomas B. Fore
Producers: Jason Michael Berman, W. Michael Jenson, Gordon Bijelonic, Datari Turner, Joel Newton, James Rosenthal, Common, Derek Dudley
Screenwriters: Sheldon Candis, Justin Wilson
Cinematographer: Gavin Kelly
Editor: Jeff Wishengrad
Music: Nuno Malo, Blaqstarr
Cast: Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Michael Kenneth Williams, Meagan Good
Eleven-year-old Woody is a bright, softspoken boy who lives with his grandmother and uncle Vincent. One day, Vincent, who is trying to launch a legit business venture after a stretch in prison, decides to teach the boy how to be a man. Despite his best efforts, however, Vincent finds it difficult to shed his former life, and soon Woody is learning far more — about his uncle and himself — than he ever expected.
Boasting two remarkable performances by Common and young Michael Rainey, Jr., LUV is a compelling look at two people, one struggling to escape his past and the other looking ahead to an uncertain future.
Middle Of Nowhere
Galas
(USA, 2012, 99 mins)
Directed By: Ava DuVernay
Producers: Howard Barish, Ava DuVernay, Paul Garnes
Screenwriter: Ava DuVernay
Cinematographer: Bradford Young
Editor: Spencer Averick
Music: Kathryn Bostic
Cast: Emayatzy Corinealdi, Omari Hardwick, David Oyelowo, Lorraine Toussaint, Sharon Lawrence, Edwina Findley
How do you maintain a marriage — and your own identity — when your husband has been sentenced to prison for eight years? That is the dilemma facing Ruby, the protagonist of Ava DuVernay’s elegant and powerful new movie. Ruby makes big sacrifices, giving up medical school to focus on her efforts to free her man and maintain her marriage. But is her husband the man she thinks he is? A powerful portrait of a strong woman contending with conflicting feelings of love, guilt and inconvenient desire, Middle of Nowhere marks the arrival of a bold new voice in independent cinema.
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Summer Showcase
(France , USA, 2011, 90 mins)
Directed By: Terence Nance
Producers: Terence Nance, James Bartlett, Andrew Corkin
Screenwriter: Terence Nance
Cinematographers: Matthew E. Bray, Shawn Peters
Editor: Terence Nance
Cast: Terence Nance, Namik Minter, Chanelle Pearson
“You seem to have captured the attention of an intriguing young lady… you see that you’ve missed a call. There’s a voice mail; she tells you that she won’t be seeing you tonight.” Thus begins a simple love story, but before there was this film, there was a short. This is the meta-textual story of that short and the story of showing the girl in question the short.
Popping off the screen with explosive style and energy, director and star Terence Nance adapts and expands his previous film like a musician remixing and improving a classic song. His film playfully pushes the cinematic envelope while plumbing the depths of heartbreak.
Question Bridge: Black Males
Free Screenings
(USA, 2012, 75 mins)
Directed By: Chris Johnson,
Hank Willis Thomas
Producers: Bayeté Ross Smith, Kamal Sinclair, Deborah Willis, Delroy Lindo, Jesse Williams
Cinematographer: Chris Johnson
Editors: Will Sylvester, Rosa White
It’s easy to engage individuals in conversation, but how does one engage a broad community? This multimedia project from artists Chris Johnson and Hank Willis Thomas, along with Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair, provides a unique opportunity for dialogue between black men nationwide. For the past four years, Johnson and company have traveled to eleven cities, recording African-American men asking candid questions on camera, which were then answered by other men, who might live next door or thousands of miles away. Stretching across more than just geographic boundaries, but also generational and class divides, Question Bridge is redefining the black male experience in 21st century America.
