South by Southwest (SXSW) 2018 Films Featuring and Directed By Black TalentPosted by Wilson Morales
March 9, 2018
The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals starts the 25th edition of the Film Festival, running March 9-18, 2018 in Austin, Texas. The acclaimed program draws thousands of fans, filmmakers, press, and industry leaders every year to immerse themselves in the most innovative, smart and entertaining new films of the year.
Among the films directed by and/or featuring African Americans include Nijla Mu’min, starring Zoe Renee, Simone Missick and Kelvin Harrison, Jr, as well as First Match starring Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo and Jharrel Jerome and Fast Color with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lorraine Toussaint and Saniyya Sidney.
Making its world premiere will the Jordan Peele produced TBS comedy, The Last O.G., starring Tiffany Haddish and Tracy Morgan as well as Freeform and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, whose pilot episode was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights).
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
First Match
Written and directed by Olivia Newman, the film stars Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, and Jared Kemp
Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl (Emanuelle) from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the all-boys high school wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.
First Match is Olivia Newman’s feature directorial debut, based off a short film she wrote and directed while at Columbia University. “At the time, I was really intrigued by the growing number of girls taking up wrestling in high school, and because there still weren’t enough girls to form their own leagues, I began to wonder about the physical and emotional experience of co-ed wrestling,” she wrote in an email to Refinery29. “I cast a girl wrestler from Brooklyn to play the lead role, and the friendship we developed over the years, the time I spent at her wrestling practices, and the stories she and her friend shared with me, eventually inspired me to expand the short into a feature and ground it in her neighborhood of Brownsville.”
Following its premiere, the film will then be released on Netflix on March 30, 2018.
Jinn
Written and directed by Nijla Mu’min, the film stars Zoe Renee (The Quad) as Summer, Simone Missick (Luke Cage), Hisham Tawfiq (The Blacklist), Kelly Jenrette (Grandfathered, Pitch), Kelvin Harrison, Jr., (It Comes At Night, Monster, and Mudbound), Damien D. Smith (The American Dream), and Dorian Missick (Big Words, Monster).
Summer (Zoe Renee) is a carefree, black teenage Instagram celebrity whose world turns upside down when her mother Jade (Missick) abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person. At first resistant to the faith, she begins to reevaluate her identity after becoming attracted to a Muslim classmate (Harrison, Jr.), crossing the thin line between physical desire and piety. The film is a timely, fresh look at identity, Islam, and first love in contemporary Los Angeles.
Nijla Mu’min is a writer and filmmaker from the East Bay Area. Named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker Magazine in 2017, she tells stories about black girls and women who find themselves between worlds and identities. Her filmmaking and screenwriting have been supported by the Sundance Institute, IFP, and Film Independent.
Sadie
Written and directed by Megan Griffiths, the film stars Melanie Lynskey, Sophia Mitri Schloss, John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale, Keith Williams, and Tee Dennard.
SADIE is the story of a 13-year-old girl who lives at home with her mother while her father serves repeated tours in the military. Sadie is extremely attached to her father despite his prolonged absence, and when her mother begins dating a new man, Sadie takes extreme measures to end the relationship and safeguard her family through the only tactics she knows–those of war.
Brooks is best known for her role on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.
Shotgun
Written and directed by Hannah Marks & Joey Power, the film stars Maika Monroe, Jeremy Allen White, DeRon Horton, Marisa Tomei, Sasha Lane, Joe Keery, Gina Gershon, Dean Winters, and Olivia Luccardi.
Elliot (Jeremy Allen White) is 23, lives in New York, and has no real responsibility. He spends most of his time partying with his best friend Nico (DeRon Horton). Shortly after meeting Mia (Maika Monroe), Elliot is diagnosed with a rare illness. They fall in love under the cloud of his illness, despite barely knowing each other.
Horton, who plays Nico in the film, appears in two Netflix originals; the Dear White People series, based on Justin Simien’s 2014 film, and frat boy film Burning Sands.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Chi-Town
Directed by Nick Budabin
Chi-Town follows Keifer Sykes on his meteoric rise from Marshall High School on Chicago’s West Side to his improbable shot at the NBA. This exhilarating multi-year journey of the explosive point guard’s ascent is punctuated by personal loss, debilitating injury, and tragic violence. At only 5’11 and surrounded by shattered dreams and wasted potential, the odds are stacked against Keifer at every turn. Keifer’s focus on his goal and his never-wavering support for his community are inspirations. This is an intimate, raw, surprising and unique behind the scenes look at a true champion — and what it really takes to make it.
This One’s For The Ladies
Directed by Gene Graham
This One’s For The Ladies is not for straight white men. It’s a documentary for and about black and brown women and their allies. If you’re an adult and like to have a laugh about adult things, you’ll have a great time with the Ladies. However, if you are easily offended by an honest discussion of female sexuality, seeing a large black penis, or by getting real about how racial disparities impact the lives of these Ladies outside of the club, then this is not the movie for you.
Gene is an award-winning documentary director, editor and producer (The Godfather of Disco, Dirty Laundry, The Ski Trip), working in Brooklyn, NY. This One’s For The Ladies is Gene’s second feature documentary.
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
Fast Color
Directed by Julia Hart from a script written by Hart and Jordan Horowitz, the film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lorraine Toussaint, Saniyya Sidney, Christopher Denham, and David Strathairn.
RUTH, a woman with extraordinary abilities she can no longer control, is haunted by a mysterious past. Set in a broken and drought-ridden world, we meet Ruth on the run from an unknown group that has discovered her abilities. Ruth turns to the only place she feels she can hide: the childhood home she abandoned long ago. There, she reconnects with her estranged mother, BO, and daughter, LILA. As Bo attempts to help Ruth control her abilities, the three women start to become a family again. But when Ruth’s pursuers catch up to her, she is forced to face her demons and confront her past.
Support The Girls
Written and directed by Andrew Bujalski, the film stars Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Shayna McHayle, James LeGros, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker, Lea DeLaria, Jana Kramer, and John Elvis.
Lisa Conroy is the last person you’d expect to find in a highway-side “sports bar with curves,”–but as general manager at Double Whammies, she’s come to love the place and its customers. An incurable den mother, she nurtures and protects her girls fiercely–but over the course of one trying day, her optimism is battered from every direction…Double Whammies sells a big, weird American fantasy, but what happens when reality pokes a bunch of holes in it?
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes
Directed by Robert Bader, Screenwriters: Robert S. Bader, Dick Cavett
The film follows Muhammad Ali’s life and career through the lens of his numerous appearances on the Dick Cavett Show. (Ali made more than a dozen appearances on the show and developed 53-year friendship with Cavett.) From a gold medal win at the 1960 Olympics, and winning the heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston in 1964, to joining the Nation of Islam, refusing induction into the United States Army, and his legendary battles in the ring with Joe Frazier and George Foreman, Muhammad Ali remained a unique and powerful force in popular culture. This is more than a sports documentary. The film delves into political and social matters that remain relevant today.
Alt-Right: Age of Rage
Director/Screenwriter: Adam Bhala Lough
Trump has won and the Alt-Right is on the rise. His improbable victory brought a previously hidden movement out of the fringe. On the other side, the shadow collective Antifa and civil rights organizations like the SPLC and NAACP are fighting back in the courts, the media, and the streets. “ALT-RIGHT: AGE OF RAGE” is a hard-hitting expose, investigating major players on both sides of the battle. As tensions between Americans in the first year of the Trump era boil over, the battle culminates in the tragic events of Charlottesville.
VISIONS
Prospect
Written and directed by Zeek Earl & Chris Caldwell, the cast includes Sophie Thatcher, Pedro Pascal, Jay Duplass, Andre Royo, Sheila Vand, Anwan Glover.
A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote alien moon, aiming to strike it rich. They’ve secured a contract to harvest a large deposit of the elusive gems hidden in the depths of the moon’s toxic forest. But there are others roving the wilderness and the job quickly devolves into a fight to survive. Forced to contend not only with the forest’s other ruthless inhabitants, but with her own father’s greed-addled judgment, the girl finds she must carve her own path to escape.
Relaxer
Written and directed by Joel Potrykus, the film stars Joshua Burge, David Dastmalchian, Andre Hyland, Adina Howard, and Amari Cheatom
Doom and gloom are on the way. The Y2K apocalypse can’t be stopped. Abbie’s older brother issues him the ultimate challenge before it goes down: stay on the couch until he beats the infamous Billy Mitchell record on Pac-Man by getting past level 256. No getting up, no matter what. No quitting. Abbie must survive inside a rotten living room with no food or water, and numb nut friends and toxic gas getting in his face. Luckily, Abbie’s secret 3D glasses begin to give him new abilities, controlling the powers of his tiny universe.
MIDNIGHTERS
Get Out’s Betty Gabriel is featured in 2 films in this section
Untitled Blumhouse-Bazelevs
Written and directed by Stephen Susco, the cast includes Colin Woodell, Betty Gabriel, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Andrew Lees, Conor del Rio, Stephanie Nogueras, Savira Windyani.
A 20-something finds a cache of hidden files on his new laptop and is thrust into the deep waters of the dark web. From the makers of Unfriended, this thriller unravels in real-time, entirely on a computer screen. A warning for the digital age.
Upgrade
Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, the film stars Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, and Benedict Hardie.
GREY TRACE, a technophobe in a utopian near-future when computers control nearly everything – from cars to crime-surveillance – is paralyzed in a freak mugging that leaves his wife dead. But when a billionaire technologist offers him an experimental paralysis cure – an implanted computer chip called STEM – Grey finds that the chip has a voice and a mind of its own. Together Grey and STEM embark on a mission to avenge his wife’s death.
EPISODIC
Krypton
Directors: Colm McCarthy, Ciaran Donnelly, Screenwriters: Cameron Welsh, Damian Kindler and David S. Goyer, Story by David S. Goyer, Ian Goldberg
Cast: Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Elliot Cowan, Ann Ogbomo, Aaron Pierre, Rasmus Hardiker, Wallis Day, Blake Ritson, Ian McElhinney, Shaun Sipos, Colin Salmon.
What if Superman never existed? Set two generations before the destruction of Superman’s home planet, KRYPTON follows Seg-El, the legendary Man of Steel’s grandfather, as a young man who is faced with a life and death conflict – save his home planet or let it be destroyed in order to restore the fate of his future grandson. With Krypton’s leadership in disarray and the House of El ostracized, Seg finds himself in a difficult position. He must redeem his family’s honor and protect the ones he loves while being challenged by familiar DC characters Brainiac and Earthly time-traveler Adam Strange. From Warner Horizon Scripted Television and is based on DC characters.
The screening will be followed by an extended Q&A The screening will be followed by an extended Q&A with the creators and talent attending.
The Last O.G.
Creator and Executive Producer: Jordan Peele, Executive Producers: Tracy Morgan and John Carcieri, Director: Jorma Taccone
Cast: Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Allen Maldonado, Tiffany Haddish, Joel Marsh Garland, Gino Vento, Natalie Carter, Taylor Mosby, Ryan Gaul.
The Last O.G. is an American comedy television series created by Jordan Peele and John Carcieri. Morgan plays Tray, an ex-con released after a 15-year prison stint. The ex-con is shocked to see just how much the world has changed and feels like fish out of water in his old Brooklyn neighborhood. The neighborhood has undergone gentrification, & his ex-girlfriend Shay is married to a white man whom she’s been raising the twin sons he never knew existed. With no money & no connection to his kids falls back on what he learned in prison while adjusting to society. Cedric the Entertainer plays Miniard Mullins, who heads the halfway house where Tray stays & helps him transition back to society.
The screening will be followed by an extended Q&A moderated by Variety’s Ramin Setoodeh with Jorma Taccone, Tracy Morgan, and Tiffany Haddish.
Warriors of Liberty City
Directors: Evan Rosenfeld, Andrew Cohn
Cast: Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Lavalrick Lucas, Jr., Lavalrick “Dread” Lucas, Sr. , George Harris, Jr. , George Harris, Sr., Barry Jenkins, Herbert Ritchie, Chatarius “Tutu” Atwell, Jr., Robert “Lamont” Beneby, Jr..
“Warriors of Liberty City,” a docuseries from PGA award-winner Evan Rosenfeld explores a crime-ridden neighborhood in Miami, Florida that is arguably the NFL’s largest, most successful football factory. The series follows a season with the Liberty City Warriors, a youth football program founded by an unlikely mentor: Luther Campbell, also known as “Uncle Luke.” Before Liberty City native Barry Jenkins won his historic Oscar® for Moonlight, the city was best known for producing some of the biggest names in football. It’s a place synonymous with poverty and violence, but in the face of incredible challenges and tragedy, the Warriors learn to triumph both on and off the field.
The screening will be followed by an extended Q&A moderated by ESPN’s Maria Taylor. Director Evan Rosenfeld will be joined by Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell, Maverick Carter, and Duke Johnson
Cloak and Dagger
The premiere will mark Freeform and Marvel Television’s first presence at SXSW. The pilot episode was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights).
The series will premiere on Thursday, June 7 (8:00 – 10:00 p.m. EDT/PDT).
Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger is a coming-of-age series based on the beloved Marvel characters. Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson come from starkly different backgrounds, each growing up with a secret they never dared share with another soul. Once a privileged little girl, Tandy Bowen watched as her family was destroyed by a disastrous storm that uprooted her life. Now in her late teens, an unexpected encounter with a boy named Tyrone sparks a life changing event. Young Tyrone Johnson wanted nothing more than to prove he was fearless. But when everything he held close was taken away, life taught Tyrone to be afraid. Now older and more sheltered, Tyrone closes himself off. But when he meets a girl named Tandy his life changes forever.
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Hearts Beat Loud
(Director: Brett Haley, Screenwriters: Brett Haley, Marc Basch, Producers: Houston King, Sam Bisbee, Sam Slater) — Cast: Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner, Toni Collette.
Set in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and in his first feature lead role, Offerman plays Frank, who with his daughter Sam (Clemons) forms an unlikely songwriting duo in the last summer before she leaves for college. Offerman and Clemons will both sing in the film, which will feature four original songs and a score by Keegan DeWitt.
Rapture
Directors: Sacha Jenkins, Ben Selkow, Geeta Gandbhir, Steven Caple Jr., Marcus A. Clarke, Gabriel Noble
From Mass Appeal and executive producers Sacha Jenkins, Peter Bittenbender and Ben Selkow, Rapture stares directly into the bright light that hip hop culture shines on the world and doesn’t blink. Over 8 episodes and featuring a diverse swath of artists — Nas and Dave East, T.I., Rapsody, Logic, G-Eazy, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, 2 Chainz and Just Blaze – Rapture dives into the artists’ lives with their families and friends, to sitting front row in the studio and grinding on tour, to experiencing the ecstatic power of moving the crowd. Rapture launches globally on Netflix March 30.
GLOBAL
Number 37 (South Africa)
Written and directed by Nosipho Dumisa, the film stars Irshaad Ally, Monique Rockman, Ephraim Gordon, David Manuel, Sandy Schultz, Deon Lotz, Danny Ross, Amrain Essop, Elton Landrew, Jeff Moss.
Paying homage to the Hitchcock classic Rear Window, Number 37 tells the story of Randall, a low level criminal recently crippled in an illicit deal gone wrong. Wheelchair-bound and cooped up in his apartment in a rough Cape Town neighbourhood, Randall is heavily indebted to a sociopathic loan shark named Emmie. With no way of paying the money back, he despairs for himself and his devoted girlfriend, Pam as Emmie violently demonstrates what will happen if Randall doesn’t settle his debt before the end of the week. The Gift of a pair of binoculars presents him with an opportunity to get his hands on the money he so desperately needs – but at great risk.
Nosipho Dumisa is a South African Director who wrote and Directed Number 37 as her first feature film. She has directed and produced many hours of television and co-directed the multiple award-winning Short Film Nummber 37. Born in 1988 she is part of a new wave of film makers challenging the world with her very obvious and apparent talent.
FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Blindspotting
(Director: Carlos Lopez Estrada, Screenwriters: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Producers: Keith Calder, Jess Calder, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs)
The buddy comedy, written by Diggs and Casal, loosely based on their experiences growing up in the Bay Area, is about two movers set against the colorful backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Oakland. Cast: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Ethan Embry, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Kevin Carroll, Nyambi Nyambi, John Chaffin, and Wayne Knight. DAY ONE
Diggs originated the role of Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the Broadway musical smash Hamilton, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor. Together, Daveed Diggs & Rafael Casal have worked on Hobbes & Me, a shot-for-shot (or panel-for-panel) adaptation of Bill Watterson’s classic comic strip, Calvin & Hobbes. They were also part of the Getback crew in the Bay area.
Half The Picture
(Director: Amy Adrion, Producers: Amy Adrion, David Harris) —
Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community in Alabama’s Black Belt, Hale County This Morning, This Evening offers an emotive impression of the Historic South. Daniel Collins attends college in search of opportunity while Quincy Bryant becomes a father to an energetic son. Creating a poetic form that privileges the patiently observed interstices of their lives, RaMell Ross’ film trumpets the beauty of life and consequences of race, while simultaneously existing as a testament to dreaming – despite the odds.
Pass Over
(Created by: Spike Lee, Danya Taymor, Playwright/Screenwriter: Antoinette Nwandu)
A provocative riff on Waiting for Godot, capturing the poetry, humor and humanity of this urgent and timely play about two young black men talking shit, passing the time and dreaming of the promised land. Cast: Jon Michael Hill, Julian Parker, Ryan Hallahan, Blake DeLong.
Sorry To Bother You
(Director and screenwriter: Boots Riley, Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Charles King, George Rush, Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams) — The film is about black telemarketer Cassius Green (Stanfield) with self-esteem issues who discovers a magical key to business success, propelling him to the upper echelons of the hierarchy just as his activist comrades are rising up against unjust labor practices. When he uncovers the macabre secret of his corporate overlords, he must decide whether to stand up or sell out.
Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler, Armie Hammer, Omari Hardwicke.
The producers are Fruitvale Station‘s Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker of Signficant Prods. are producing along with 6 Years‘ Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams, Charles D. King (Fences), George Rush (Bully)
