Sundance 2015 Films Featuring and Directed By Black TalentPosted by Wilson Morales
January 21, 2015
Once again, as the new year starts, so do the hopes for several filmmakers and talent who want to have their films picked up for distribution at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.
In years past, we have seen directors such as Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, and Justin Simien walk away from the festival with accolades while actors such as Quvenzhane Wallis, Michael B. Jordan, Emayatzy Corinealdi, and Tessa Thompson leave many producers looking to cast them in their next film. With the exception of Lee Daniels’s ‘Precious,’ urban films that get distribution don’t usually make blockbusters numbers at the box office, but they do receive position reviews, which leads to respect within the industry. From Fruitvale Station, Middle of Nowhere, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Twenty Feet From Stardom, Mother of George and last year’s Dear White People, getting into the festival is not an easy feat.
Congrats to those films that will be playing this year and hopefully, the rest of the world, will get a chance to see them, should it be pick up for theatrical release.
Here’s are some of the films that will be playing at the festival this year that are either directed or features Black talent.
DOPE – Director/ Writer Rick Famuyiwa
Cast: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, A$AP Rocky.
Malcolm is a high school geek with a high-top fade, carefully navigating life in The Bottoms, one of the toughest neighborhoods in Inglewood, California. He and his fellow outcasts share a voracious appreciation for all things ’90s hip-hop, opting to sport Cross-Colours and Z. Cavariccis at the risk of being clowned at school. He dreams of attending Harvard, but first he has to make it home every day. When a drug dealer takes a shine to Malcolm and invites him to his birthday party, Malcolm’s crew is swirled into a hilarious blender of offbeat characters and bad choices where redemption can only be found in Bitcoin.
PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS – Director/ Writer James C. Strouse
U.S Dramatic Competition
Cast: Jemaine Clement, Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, Jessica Williams, Gia Gadsby, Aundrea Gadsby
Will Henry is a newly single graphic novelist balancing being a parent to his young twin daughters and teaching a classroom full of college students, all the while trying to navigate the rich complexities of new love and letting go of the woman who left him.
GIRLHOOD – by Writer/ Director Céline Sciamma
Cast: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré
The French film is Céline Sciamma’s raw and tender look at a group of black high school students living in the tough banlieues of Paris, grounded by an incendiary performance from newcomer Karidja Touré.
Fed up with her abusive family situation, lack of school prospects and the “boys’ law” in the neighborhood, Shy Marieme (Karidja Touré) starts a new life after falling in with a group of three free-spirited girls (Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré). She changes her name, her style, drops out of school and starts stealing to be accepted into the gang. When her home situation becomes unbearable, Marieme seeks solace in an older man who promises her money and protection. Realizing this sort of lifestyle will never result in the freedom and independence she truly desires, she finally decides to take matters into her own hands.
Z FOR ZACHARIAH – Directed by Craig Zobel
Cast: Chris Pine, Margot Robbie and Chiwetel Ejiofor
Nissar Modi wrote the screenplay for the psychological thriller, adapting Robert C. O’Brien‘s 1974 novel. The movie is set in a post apocalyptic world, where a young woman named ANN (Margot Robbie) lives on a farm believing she is the last of the human race. Her fate is turned on its head when she meets LOOMIS (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a dying scientist on a hopeless quest to find his family. A budding young woman with feelings of lust, Ann starts to fall in love with Loomis while she nurses him back to health. But their relationship becomes tenuous when an unexpected survivor named CALEB (Chris Pine) shows up. Caleb is younger, stronger and more virile than Loomis. So when Loomis and Caleb begin to compete for Ann’s affections their primal urges seep to the surface. We soon see their true nature as they relentlessly struggle to claim the last woman on earth.
3½ MINUTES – Directed by Marc Silver
U.S Documentary Competition
3½ MINUTES reveals what happened during the brief few minutes when two disparate lives intersected and were forever altered. On Black Friday 2012 at a Florida gas station, two cars parked next to each other for those passing moments and the interaction between them was devastating. A white middle-aged male and a black teenager exchanged angry words over the volume of the music in the boy’s car. A gun entered the exchange and one of them was left dead.
Michael Dunn fired 10 bullets at a car full of unarmed teenagers and then fled. Three of those bullets hit 17-year-old Jordan Davis, who died at the scene. Arrested the next day, Dunn claimed he shot in self defense. Thus began the long journey of unraveling the truth and understanding actual threat versus perceived threat. 3½ MINUTES follows that journey, interweaving the night of the murder with the trial. What is revealed are deep racial prejudices and the tragedies that ensue too often in America.
THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION – Writer/ Director: Stanley Nelson
U.S Documentary Competition
Ready or not, change was coming to America. The fault lines were no longer ignorable—cities were burning, Vietnam was exploding, disputes raged over women’s rights, gay rights, and civil rights. Many of the youth that came of age in the Sixties were set on tearing down the world that Dick and Jane built and reconstructing their own American Dream. A new revolutionary culture was emerging, and it sought to drastically transform the system. The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense would, for a short time, put itself at the vanguard of that change.
(T)ERROR – Directed by Lyric R. CabralDavid Felix Sutcliffe
U.S. Documentary Competition
After working for more than 20 years as a counterterrorism informant for the FBI, ***** has a choice to make. He can stay home to raise his son or do one last high-stakes job for the Bureau. Infiltrating terror networks and befriending suspected terrorists is *****’s specialty. He is one of a growing number of covert operatives in America who straddle the murky line between preventing crimes and inventing them.
DREAMCATCHER – Directed by Kim Longinotto
World Cinema Documentary Competition (World Premiere)
On the West Side of Chicago at 3:00am, a van with the words “Dreamcatcher Foundation” emblazoned across the side cruises through the dimly lit streets. The two women inside are Brenda Myers-Powell and Stephanie Daniels-Wilson, survivors of the sex trade. The van slows down as they approach a young girl. Brenda leans out and calls, “Hey pretty, do you need some condoms?” This opening scene takes you immediately into the sharp end of the world of Dreamcatcher, vividly directed by master documentarian Kim Longinotto. Brenda became a prostitute as a teenager, developed a drug addiction, and years later came out the other side. Her experience, combined with her irresistible personality, puts her in a unique position to help other trafficked women reclaim their lives. With warmth and humor, Brenda gives hope to those who have none.
FRESH DRESSED – Directed by Sacha Jenkins
With funky, fat-laced Adidas, Kangol hats, and Cazal shades, a totally original look was born—Fresh—and it came from the black and brown side of town where another cultural force was revving up in the streets to take the world by storm. Hip-hop, and its aspirational relationship to fashion, would become such a force on the market that Tommy Hilfiger, in an effort to associate their brand with the cultural swell, would drive through the streets and hand out free clothing to kids on the corner. Included are in-depth interviews with rappers, designers, and other industry insiders, such as Pharrell Williams, Damon Dash, Karl Kani, Kanye West, Nas Jones, and Andre Leon Talley.
SEMBENE – Directed by Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman
World Cinema Documentary Competition (World Premiere)
In 1952, Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese dockworker and fifth-grade dropout, began dreaming an impossible dream: to become the storyteller for a new Africa. This true story celebrates how the “father of African cinema,” against enormous odds, fought a monumental, 50-year-long battle to give Africans a voice.
WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? – Directed by Liz Garbus
Documentary Premieres (World Premiere) Opening Night Film
Classically trained pianist, dive-bar chanteuse, black power icon and legendary recording artist, Nina Simone lived a life of brutal honesty, musical genius and tortured melancholy. She was the consummate live performer who could spellbind her audience into an almost religious reverie. Her distinctly emotional style had an appeal that crossed race and gender boundaries, while blending elements of jazz, blues, soul, folk and classical music. In this epic documentary, Oscar-nominated director Liz Garbus interweaves never-before-heard recordings and rare archival footage together with Nina’s most memorable songs, to create an unforgettable portrait of one of the least understood, yet most beloved, artists of our time. A Netflix Original Documentary.
CRONIES – Writer/ Director Michael Larnell
Cast: George Sample III, Zurich Buckner, Brian Kowalski
Louis (George Sample III) and Jack (Zurich Buckner) have been friends since forever, so how could anything as lame as adulthood change that? But Louis’s first adorable attempts at grown-folk business are increasingly at odds with Jack’s ceaseless quest for new fucks not to give. One hot summer day, Louis makes plans with his new friend Andrew (Brian Kowalski), and Jack refuses to get left behind, both metaphorically and literally. Twenty-four hours later, everything has changed.
JAMES WHITE – Writer/ Director Josh Mond
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Ron Livingston, Makenzie Leigh
James White (Christopher Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle, but a series of setbacks with his mother’s battle with a serious illness forces James to take control of his life. As the pressure on him mounts, James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely.
NASTY BABY – Writer/ Director Sebastian Silva
Cast: Sebastian Silva, Tunde Adebimpe, Kristin Wiig, Reg E. Cathey, Mark Margolis, Denis O’Hare
A gay couple try to have a baby with the help of their best friend, Polly. The trio navigates the idea of creating life while confronted by unexpected harassment from a neighborhood man called The Bishop. As their clashes grow increasingly aggressive, odds are someone is getting hurt.
LILA & EVE – Directed by Charles Stone II
Out-Of-Competition Premiere
Cast: Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez
Lila, a grief-stricken mother reeling from her son’s murder, attends a support group where she meets Eve, who urges her to take matters into her own hands to track down her son’s killers. They soon embark on a journey of revenge, but also recovery.
Written by Patrick Gilfillan, the film also features Shea Whigham, Julius Tennon, Ron Caldwell, Aml Ameen and Yolonda Ross, who will play as a member of a “Mothers of Lost Children” support group, which helps women who have lost children to violence. Ameen will be playing Viola’s son in the film.
MISSISSIPPI GRIND – Written and Directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Sienna Miller, Ben Mendelsohn, Alfre Woodard, Robin Weigert and Analeigh Tipton.
Gerry is a talented poker player, but his gambling habit is getting the best of him. One day, he meets a charismatic young traveler named Curtis. Deeming Curtis his lucky charm, Gerry convinces him that they should hit the road together. As they gamble their way down South toward a legendary high-stakes poker game in New Orleans, the trip’s highs and lows unveil the duo’s true character and motivation, and an undeniable bond forms between them.
