Sanaa Lathan’s ‘One The Come’ Up Adds To the Black Girl Cinema Cannon (TIFF Review)

Aside from a few examples, Black girlhood has all been but ignored in the cinema landscape. There are a few outliers; Crooklyn, Alma’s Rainbow, Pariah, Selah, and the Spades, and Eve’s Bayou come to mind. However, if you consider Hollywood overall, Black teen girls don’t exist in their own stories. Sanaa Lathan’s directorial debut, On the Come Up, adds a much-needed tale to a very sparse catalog. Adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by Angie Thomas, On the Come Up follows 16-year-old Bri (vibrant newcomer Jamila Gray). The teen is trying to find her footing in the music world by stepping out of the shadow of her late father, who was killed just as his rap career was taking off.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Jonathan Majors Flies High In J.D. Dillard's 'Devotion' (TIFF Review)

The heroes of the Korean War, America’s forgotten war, specifically Jesse Brown, who became the first Black aviator in Navy history, have been largely erased from history.

However, Sleight director J.D. Dillard, whose father is the second African American Blue Angels pilot, has always known Brown’s story, which is the subject of Devotion.

Adapted from Adam Makos' book of the same name, 'Devotion' opens in 1950.

We meet a strapping Brown (the always immaculate Jonathan Majors), who has endured every type of abuse and anguish to earn his place as a Navy fighter pilot. Dillard chooses to begin his story once Jesse is already established. Though the audience may not be privy to the navel and aviator lingo that take up much of the film’s beginning, Major is electric on the screen. His world further expands when we enter his quaint Rhode Island home, where his wife Daisy (a magnificent Christina Jackson) is buzzing about with their young daughter, Pam.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

The Sidney Poitier Apple TV+ Doc Is A Beautiful Tapestry Of A Life Well Lived (TIFF Review)

If you are lucky, you will live a good life. The days and years of your story will be filled with more triumphs than trials. Perhaps you will even have some successes, but most importantly, there will be love and peace. However, some people get a little bit more than that, which will reward and cost them simultaneously.

Sidney Poitier was a giant, but as the late actor relays to the audience in Reginald Hudlin’s Sidney opens, he was never supposed to live. Born two months premature on a tiny island in the Bahamas to tomato farmers, the Academy Award winner had little more than a third-grade education when he stepped off a boat in Miami at age 15.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Viola Davis-Led Historical Epic 'The Woman King' Showcases The Pure Majesty of Black Women (TIFF Review)

As Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical epic, The Woman King, opens, a statuesque Black woman emerges from blades of tall grass. Clad in cowrie shells and coated in oil, she looks fearlessly out into the open plane before raising her fist and calling out into the darkness — a crop of similarly dressed Black women emerging behind her. And with that sound, a film centering on Black womanhood and the power of choice begins at a rip-roaring pace. 

Set in 1823 in the robust lands of Dahomey, West Africa — now called Benin, Prince-Bythewood introduces her audience to an illustrious kingdom. King Ghezo (John Boyega) has just ascended the throne, taking over for his brother. Though Dahomey is a pleasant and peaceful place, the ongoing slave trade with the Americans and Europeans continues to be a sore point among the citizens. The terror and barbarism of enslavement and the patriarchal structure of the society, along with the nearby dominating tribe called the Oyo, rings loudly. Dahomey owes its safety to General Nanisca (an enraptures Viola Davis), who leads her all-women army, the Agojie.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Elegance Bratton's 'The Inspection' Starring Jeremy Pope And Gabrielle Union Is A Stellar Examination Of Resilience And Self-Acceptance (TIFF Review)

Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union are absolutely stellar in The Inspection.

Merriam-Webster defines the word inspection as “a careful and critical examination.” In his fiction debut film, filmmaker Elegance Bratton turns his sharp lens on his own story of rejection, perseverance, and self-acceptance. Set in Trenton, New Jersey, in the years following the September 11th terrorist attack, The Inspection follows Ellis French, a quiet young man whose sensitivity and sexuality have driven a wedge between him and his hostile and hyper-religious mother, Inez (Gabrielle Union, who also served as executive producer). Her rejection of Ellis at age 16 has led him to homelessness for nearly a decade of his life. The distance between himself and his mother wounds Ellis so profoundly that he decides to enlist in the Marines in a final effort to earn not just her respect but her love.

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'Concrete Cowboy' is Warm, but not Quite Riveting

Cowboys are deeply embedded in American popular culture. After all, the Western genre dominated Hollywood box offices for years. Films like Once Upon A Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly have become the standard for idyllic versions of the heroic cattle-header. Though his legacy stretches from the streets of South Central LA to North Philadelphia, the Black cowboy has been erased from the history books. However, with his coming-age-story, Concrete Cowboy, first-time feature filmmaker Ricky Staub is unveiling an underworld often overlooked while highlighting a young teen’s fragile road to manhood. 

Based on Greg Neri’s novel, Ghetto Cowboy — Concrete Cowboy follows Cole (a gripping Caleb McLaughlin), a teen boy living in Detroit with his single mother. Terrified for her son’s life and out of options following yet another school expulsion, Cole’s mother packs his clothing in garbage bags and drives the near 600 miles from Detroit to Philly. 

Continue reading at Showbiz Cheatsheet.

'MLK/FBI' Strips Back the Legend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To Reveal a Man With Strengths and Flaws

Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI opens in 1963 at the March on Washington. It was just five years before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s death and eight years after he was thrust onto the global stage as America’s moral leader. It was an arduous role for anyone to carry, certainly for a Black man who rose and fell amid some of the most tumultuous decades in our nation’s history. Yet, whether he was ready to shoulder this burden or not, Dr. King did so despite drastic attempts to undermine him at every turn. 

Using historian David Garrow’s book, The FBI and Martin Luther King, Jr., as a framework and some of the FBI’s declassified files on King, Pollard unveils the FBI’s crusade against Dr. King the did not end until the day he died. Through stunning archival footage and modern-day audio interviews from people like Civil Rights leaders Clarence B. Jones and Andrew Young and historians like Garrow and Beverly Gage, MLK/FBI is as much about Dr. King is it is about J. Edgar Hoover and W.C. Sullivans’s obsession with him. The FBI was intent on dehumanizing King with a five-year-long campaign that involved wiretappings, secret recordings, and spying to ruin his public persona. It is a saga of a government agency gone rogue. 

Continue reading at Showbiz Cheatsheet.

'Akilla's Escape' Is a Masterclass in the Duality of Manhood

The past has its way of catching up with us. It’s something Akilla Brown (Saul Williams) has always known, and in many ways, he’s accepted his fate. In Charles Officer’s fast-paced neo-noir, Akilla’s Escape, the director turns his lens on two versions of the same man. In the present, Akilla flies through Toronto’s underworld as a notorious supplier, increasingly wary of his high-risk lifestyle. In the past, Akilla is a 15-year old living in Brooklyn in the ’90s, terrorized by his menacing gangster father, Clinton (Ronnie Rowe), and helpless to help his broken mother, Thetis (Olunike Adeliyi), find a way out. 

‘Akilla’s Escape’ forces the past to collide with the present

At 40, the exhausted drug supplier can sense that his time is running out; he just doesn’t quite know when. Though he’s making plans to shutter his Toronto-based marijuana farm to go legit and open a dispensary, his boss and business partners are not on board. Still, troubled by memories of his childhood and determined to move in a different direction than he’s done for the past 25 years, Akilla’s mind made up. Everything changes for him one night when his past comes barreling into him. 

Continue reading at Showbiz Cheatsheet.

Regina King's 'One Night in Miami' is Immaculate

Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcolm X were towering men with different ideologies, but they were also good friends. In her feature film debut, One Night in Miami, Regina King reaches back some fifty-plus years in the past to extend her lens and capture these men at various points and stages in their lives. In a well-imagined, thoughtful, and beautifully shot movie, she pulls them inward toward one another on an ordinary evening just before everything changed. 

One Night in Miami opens in 1963. Ali — known then as Cassius Clay, is in the boxing ring in London raging against Henry Cooper. Halfway across the world, Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) can feel his star power starting to wane after a less than stellar performance at New York City’s Copacabana. Down South, Brown (Aldis Hodge) has returned home to St. Simons Island, Georgia, to seek advice from whom he perceives to be an old friend. In Queens, X is trying to determine how to distance himself from the Nation of Islam and his mentor, Elijah Muhammad. 

Continue reading at Showbiz Cheatsheet.

The Intensity Of 'Human Capital' Fizzles In The End

As human beings, we'd like to think that the decisions we make stand alone. We pretend that our choices in no way affect our loved ones or the strangers whose lives' circle ours. The truth is, our fates are more intertwined then we would like to admit. Based on Stephen Amidon's 2004 novel, Marc Meyers' Human Capital shows how the lives of several families can collide against one another. 

The film opens with a tragedy—a cyclist, someone's father and husband, is sideswiped as he's riding home from work. Though the motorist sees him—they ride off, living him for dead on the side of the road as if he were a squirrel or roadkill. Meyers then pulls us back in time, and we begin to meet the people whose lives are irrevocably changed as a result of the accident.

First, there's Drew (Liev Schreiber)— a middle-class real-estate agent drowning in debts and struggling to get by. Desperate to be more, make more money—or simply to feel included, he becomes enthralled, almost to the point of obsession with Quint (Peter Sarsgaard). Quint's son, Jamie (Fred Hechinger) is dating Drew's daughter. Shannon (Maya Hawke). With new changes on the horizon in his small family and with his wife, Ronnie (Betty Gabriel)-- Drew goes against the advice of everyone he knows, hastily investing in Quint's elite hedge fund.

Though the lives of the wealthy and elite often look pristine from the outside, we all know that they are typically cracked and fractured once you peer a bit closer. Quint's company isn't exactly having the best quarter. His long-suffering wife Carrie (Maresi Tomei) is sad, bored and lonely— and his son, Jamie is harboring a secret.

The first two acts of Human Captial are beautifully paced and measured. Meyers points his lens at each character, unpacking their motivations and desires while pulling the tension of the dramatic thriller tauter. It's enthralling to watch people dive headfirst into traps of their own making, allowing their very worse compulsions and instincts lead them. 

Amid a revelation from Jamie and her parents' own significant life changes, Shannon falls for a new guy, Ian (Alex Wolff) However, because we sit with Quint, Drew, Carrie, and even Jamie for so long in the front end of the film—when we arrive at Shannon's perspective in the final act, Human Capital falters. Though we understand a bit of Shannon's background through Drew, Ronnie and Jamie, Meyers does not sit with her long enough for the audience to connect with her--let alone Ian. 

Dark, bearded, and alluring—it's clear why Shannon is almost immediately enamored with Ian. However, their "romance" is stuffed in a quick handful of scenes that don't give the audience enough depth or time to connect with them. For her part, Shannon lacks boundaries and loyalty means nothing her, which makes empathizing with her difficult. Though she and Ian are both fragile people, their motivations remain unclear so the audience never really cares about either of them. Therefore, as things come to a head, the foundation that Meyers so beautifully laid out in the first hour of the film does not stand.

Dark, bearded, and alluring—it's clear why Shannon is almost immediately enamored with Ian. However, their "romance" is stuffed in a quick handful of scenes that don't give the audience enough depth or time to connect with them. For her part, Shannon lacks boundaries. It’s clear that loyalty means nothing her, which makes empathizing with her difficult. Though she and Ian are both fragile people, their motivations remain unclear so the audience never really cares about either of them. Therefore, as things come to a head, the foundation that Meyers so beautifully laid out in the first hour of the film does not stand. 

With 95 minute run-time, Meyers is required to do quite a bit in Human Capital. The sheer amount of characters in the film need a great deal of examination. However, the last act of the film does not have the intensity or character development that was so carefully laid out in the first two acts. Therefore, the film's climax doesn't really pay off. Instead, when the dust settles and all is said in done, we are left to wonder why were even supposed to be enthralled with these people to begin with. 

Human Capital premiered Sept. 10 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Image: Toronto International Film Festival.

Renée Zellweger Is Absolutely Captivating In ‘Judy’

Though we love them–Hollywood biopics tend to be one-note. These films center a famous historical figure, tracking their childhood through the most critical moments in their lives. Renée Zellweger’s turn as Judy Garland in Judy reinvigorates the biopic genre. Chronicling the last year of the late legend’s life–Zellweger is searing, impactful and profound.

Despite her immense stardom, by the end of Garland’s life in 1969, she was nearly penniless–divorced yet again, banished from many Los Angeles hotels and struggling to raise her young children, Lorna and Joey. After some mental health issues and some struggles with opioid addiction–a habit that was thrust on her as a young girl under MGM studios– Garland was deemed unemployable and uninsurable.

As a last-ditch effort to make some money and wrangle her children away from her ex-husband–Garland took a residency at the London Theatre. She was obviously haunted by her time in showbusiness. The emotional and physical abuse that she suffered under the tyrannical MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer as a young girl was especially horrific. However, despite the weight of her past and her failing health, Zellweger depicts a light and vibrant movie star.

The Chicago star brings a vivaciousness to The Wizard of Oz legend who was always willing to try and fight through her despair and loneliness. While most people would have leaned into the tragic thread of the late movie star’s story– Zellweger works diligently to bring forth her charm and wit. In the beginning of the film where she’s seen interacting with her children–her world has fallen apart, but to them (and us) she’s positively dazzling. Despite her apparent pain and suffering, she musters up every ounce of courage so that they are safe, secure and cared for. Later in London–she meets a gay couple who have also been beaten down by life. Amid her own despair, she connects with them. Though she was riddled with anxiety, insomnia, and alcoholism, the magic and desire to be the stage never left Garland. Zellweger walks the tight rope between joy and anguish so gracefully in her performance that it will leave you enchanted.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: Roadside Attractions.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph On 'Dolemite Is My Name,' Bonding With Eddie Murphy And Becoming Ruth Carter's Muse

In the 1970s, comedian Rudy Ray Moore was forcefully pushed out of entertainment. Though he'd seen some minor success with a few albums and some work in comedy, doors quickly closed in his face. Against all rational sense, and with the money that he was able to piece together from family and friends, Moore reinvented himself as the character Dolemite, garnered major attention on the comedy stage and eventually made his own Blaxploitation film, Dolemite, off of the strength of his own tenacity.

Amid his come up, Moore met Lady Reed. She became his protégée, subverted Black female stereotypes of the Blaxploitation era and appeared in several films including Dolemite along with him. Now, Eddie Murphy along with Tony Award-nominated actress Da'Vine Joy Randolph, have immortalized Moore and Reed on the big screen with Netflix's Dolemite is My Name. 

Beautifully crafted, heartfelt and hilarious, Dolemite Is My Name carries an impactful message about following your dreams. Its robust cast, in addition to Murphy and Randolph, includes Keegan-Michael Key, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess, Tip "T.I." Harris and Wesley Snipes. The ensemble brings a rich and very Black experience to the big screen.

At the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Shadow And Act sat down with Randolph to talk about becoming Lady Reed, working with Murphy and the stunning costuming from the hands of the legendary Ruth Carter.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Netflix.

Shailene Woodley Is The Glue That Holds A Fractured ‘Endings, Beginnings’ Together

We’ve all been there. There has been some point in our ’20s or ’30s when we realize that life has been passing us by. Through it all, we’ve just been going along for the ride. In Drake Doremus’ latest film–Endings, Beginnings, Shailene Woodley stars as Daphne, a 30-something woman who hurls the grenade right into the middle of her life.

In the space of a week–Daphne quits the job that she loves, breaks up with her loving boyfriend and moves into her older sister’s (Lindsay Sloane) pool house. The only one that seems to be thrilled by her presence is her young niece. Determined to get her life in some semblance of order–Daphne swears off men and alcohol for six months. However, as well all know-when we try to banish the things that trigger us, they seem to appear in the most fascinating packages.

From the moment the film opens, something is clearly haunting Daphne. Doremus gives his audiences rapid flashbacks of some horrific event in the near distance that she refuses to dwell on. Instead–Daphne’s focus shifts towards two men–Frank (Sebastian Stan), a rugged bad-boy that appears at her sister’s New Year Eve’s party–manifesting like a phantom out of some romance novel. Intriguing and kind of off-putting, Daphne can’t help but be swept up in Frank’s hurricane. It’s interesting that she seems to know from the outset that she’s going to be pulverized when all is said and done. Yet, against her better judgment, she forges ahead.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: Toronto International Film Festival.

‘Hustlers’ Is A Dazzling Display Of Women Betting On Themselves

Since the beginning of time, women have had to use their ingenuity and wits to survive in a world that often wants to keep them pinned down. Based on the viral 2015 New York Magazine article, “The Hustlers at Score,” Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers is a dazzling narrative. The film centers a group of women who decide to be active participants in their own lives. Instead of waiting for better circumstances to come to them– they choose to take what the need, and quite frankly what they deserve.

Hustlers opens in 2007–the year before the most devastating economic crash since the Great Depression. Wall Street was basking in its golden moment, and New York was the epicenter of it all. As Janet Jackson’s “Control” strums in the background, we meet Destiny (Constance Wu). A newcomer at one of the most exclusive strip clubs in the city–she hasn’t quite found her footing. She’s barely scraping by with enough money to help her ailing grandmother. The other girls have their regulars and their confidence–wooing clients into the backrooms and garnering thousands of dollars a night for their acts. However, Destiny still hasn’t quite learned how to “sell fantasy.” But there’s one woman who has.

Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) is the queen of the club. Vivacious, sexy as hell and enticing–she has learned how to work the club, and its men for well over a decade. When we first meet Ramona, swirling around a pole–she’s like a work of art. As thrilled as the club’s clientele is with her–Destiny is also dazzled. Looking for ways to advocate for herself–Destiny reaches out to Ramona who happily takes her under her wing (and into her mink fur).

A former centerfold, Romana eagerly shows Destiny the ropes. She teaches her how to reel men in, how to get them to fund her lifestyle, and she also teaches her some new tricks for the stage. In a role that is brief but hilarious —Cardi B stars as Diamond –a stripper from the Bronx who skills Destiny on giving an erotic lap dance. Under the tutelage of her new big sister–Destiny’s life changes for the better only to come to a screeching halt in 2008.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: STX Entertainment.

‘How To Build A Girl’ Is The Anti-Fairytale I Needed At 16

Being a teen girl is a weird space to occupy. It’s like being trapped in an unyielding vortex where you’re treated like an adult, and an infant in the same breath. Diana Sanchez’ How to Build A Girl is a story about one 16-year-old taking her destiny in her own hands. She does this in the face of fear, trepidation and the world telling her she’s not worthy of her own agency. Historically, girls have shouldered more responsibilities than boys both in and out of the household. Because of the sexualization of the female body and sexism– we’re often silenced, shoved to the side or locked away. How to Build A Girl is about self-liberation.

Set in the ’90s, the film is based on Caitlin Moran’s semiautobiographical novel and follows 16-year old Johanna Morrigan (Booksmart’s Beanie Feldstein). Witty, imaginative and a bit boy crazy, Johanna longs to break free of her working-class English town, and her loving but dysfunctional family. With her gay brother/ best friend, Chris, her wanna-be rockstar dad, her school-age little brother, and her postpartum depressive mother whose recently given birth to twin boys, Johanna feels forgotten about.

She continually bullied at school, and she spends time daydreaming and writing. However, Johanna knows in her gut that she is destined to do more. It’s a self-assuredness that most teenage girls cling on to despite the world’s determination to stamp it out of them. Desperate to get out of Wolverhampton, and in need of money to help her family, Johanna applies to be a music writer for a London-based magazine.

It’s clear from the beginning that Johanna has a gift for the written word. However, she knows less than nothing about rock n’ roll. In addition to being a rock novice–Johanna has internalized every negative thing that has been said about her. Determined to be someone “better,” she reinvents herself into the vivacious and sometimes cruel, Dolly Wilde. The very opposite of Johanna–Dolly takes pleasure in cutting down others and being sexually insatiable.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: Toronto International Film Festival.

There Have Been Films About Girlhood, But ‘Rocks’ Is A Miracle

In the past, films centering young Black teens and girls have been an anomaly. Every few years or so we’d get movies like Crooklyn, Eve’s Bayou or Pariah that would shine a spotlight on Black girls. Thankfully, with the expansion of cinema, a new generation of Black girls are being elevated. From Tayarisha Poe’s Selah and the Spades to Nijla Mu’min’s Jinn and now Sarah Gavron’s Rocks–these movies are showcasing Black girls in a new light. Narratives like these are varied and nuanced examinations of what it means to be a Black girl in a world that will quite literally try and squeeze the life out of you.

In addition to being erased in film, Black girls are often adultified. The stereotype of the “strong Black woman” begins early, forcing young girls into difficult positions with way too much responsibly before they are ready. These stories are often showcased harshly–leaving little to no room for joy, familiarity or connection.

Rocks is a marvel because it does the opposite. Set in London, Rocks follows Shola (Bukky Bakray) aka Rocks, who is blissfully living out the final days of summer with her girls. The tight-knit group of teen girls all come from various walks of life and backgrounds, but they move together as if they’re one living breathing organism.

As the film opens, the girls stand on a rooftop looking out at the London skyline, bellowing Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary” at the top of their lungs. They amuse themselves by taking pictures for Instagram or getting their faces beat by Rocks, who is quite the amateur makeup artist. As all of her friends part ways, Rocks stays behind for a moment, soaking in the sun. It’s as if she knows tomorrow will be different.

Rocks lives in a flat with her mom and little brother Emmanual (D’angelou Osei Kissiedu)– an intelligent and imaginative little boy who is wiser and more hilarious that many of us will ever be. On the first day of school–Rocks’ mother sends her children to school with bellies full of yam and eggs. it’s her final act of motherhood before she vanishes from their lives.

After navigating their way through their first day of school, Rocks and Emmanual arrive home to an empty flat. Rocks finds a note from her mother apologizing for her absence as well as a small stack of cash that surely won’t last past a few days.

Continue reading at STYLECASTER.

Image: Toronto International Film Festival.

TIFF 2018: George Tillman Jr. On Adapting Book 'The Hate U Give' To The Big Screen

Since the mega success of 1997’s Soul Food, director George Tillman Jr. has been telling stories that enable people to deeply examine their own lives and their connections with others. He's directed Notorious and The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, and he’s also worked diligently as a producer films like Mudbound and the Barbershop franchise. Now the prolific filmmaker is bringing Angie Thomas’ stunning novel The Hate U Give to the big screen. The narrative centers around Black teenager Starr Carter, and her experiences participating in activism paralleling the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Following the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Shadow and Act sat down to chat with Tillman about why this was a story he felt compelled to tell, and what he’s uncovered over the course of his career. For Tillman, the entry point into Starr’s world was first sparked by Thomas’ novel. 

"When the book came to me it wasn't published," Tillman told Shadow and Act. "Angie was still in the process of editing the book. I got it really early — in January 2016. I was working with Cheo Hodari Coker, who I did Notorious with. He wanted me to do an episode . I went out to Brooklyn, and the book came to me in my second week of shooting." 

"I didn't have a lot of time, but I did read the first chapter," he said. "The first chapter starts off at the party where Starr's hanging out. She says, 'I don't know if I'm supposed to be at this party.' She was uncomfortable, and I thought, 'Wow, I’ve never seen a story about a young 16-year-old, African American dealing with identity issues.'" 

"As I kept reading it, the dialogue and the language reminded me of a party I went to years ago in my high school times, and a shooting happened," Tillman recalled. "The way (Angie) caught that, and the themes — I was just blown away. I had to get on the phone with her right away. We talked maybe two weeks after that. We went through how I saw the movie, the important characters, the voice, the theme. We completely connected. Then I was able to sell it to Fox at that point." 

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

TIFF Interview: Director A.V. Rockwell Talks Her Film ‘Feathers' And How Philando Castile's Death Inspired Its Powerful Storyline

Countless films have examined the pain and traumas of black, male adolescence. From Moonlight to Menace II Society, these stories have woven stunning tapestries, which unpack what it means to come of age as a black male in America. However, few films have provided a space of healing for their characters, allowing them to work through their pain to overcome their past.With her lush, 19-minute short, Feathers, director A.V. Rockwell presents Elizier's (newcomer Shavez Frost) story. A new student at The Edward R. Mill School for Boys, Elizier must learn to release the anger and grief of his past, to press forward in his life and become the person he was always meant to be. Tucked in the corner of a restaurant in the midst of the Toronto International Film Festival, Shadow and Act sat down to chat with Rockwell about her love letter to black men and what inspired her to capture Elizier's story on screen.

"I am definitely frustrated. Generally speaking, there is just so much going on, and it's not even anything new. Looking back over the decades at our relationship with officers, with the police force — this is a recurring thing. The proof is right there, but even that doesn't feel like that is enough. It's like the world doesn't seem to give a damn about us, and that feeling is what Feathers is about," Rockwell said. "Society doesn't give a damn about you — whether you live or die. Our lives aren’t valued, and it definitely doesn't feel like your life shares the same value as your non-black friend."

"I thought, 'I want to do something that addresses that.' How does it feel to move through the world from such a young age, but already have that awareness or see a parent die?" she continued. "I thought about Philando Castile’s daughter; how does she feel to have seen her dad die viciously that way? Now she has to go through the world without a dad. Those images will be in her head with her for the rest of her life. Now she is being raised by a single mom. What is that going to mean for them, and in carrying all of this, what is that going to mean for her children, her grandchildren? How is that going to travel through the generations? I was frustrated by that, and thinking of their point of view," the director explained.

"Using their story as an allegory experience, I really wanted to lift them and push the message: Lift each other. When the rest of the world seems to have let go, that doesn't mean that you still should not care about each other," Rockwell implored. "The black community should continue to push society to change, but we can also take steps among ourselves. We need to take a look at our traumas and the way we deal with them — and the way we can find a way out of them."

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian On 'Fig Tree,' The Brutality Of War And The Sacrifice Of Filmmaking

War is horrific and cruel. Its brutalities burrow into the memories of everyone it touches, forever changing landscapes and lives left in its wake. From her memories of the end of the Ethiopian Civil War, Ethiopian-Israeli writer-director Aäläm-Wärqe Davidian takes an unflinching look at war in her feature film debut, Fig Tree. A sumptuous film about pain and perseverance, Fig Tree was awarded the Audentia Award for Best Female Director at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF). Set in Addis Ababa in 1989, Davidian's film centers around Mina (Betalehem Asmamawe), a 16-year-old girl who is desperate to hold on to both her homeland and Eli (Yohanes Muse), her Christian boyfriend, who is frantically evading being drafted into Mengistu Haile Mariam's army.

Shadow and Act sat down to chat with Davidian about this compelling, coming-of-age story and the sacrifices she made to make this film.

Davidian left war-torn Ethiopia when she was just 11 years old, but Mina's story is quite different from her own. Fig Tree was born out of Davidian's desire to connect to her memories and the feelings from her childhood that still lingered with her.

"I started to go to pharmacy school, but I was rejected," she said. "During that time, I was watching a ton of movies. I was inspired to share the way I viewed the world, especially because I would always see these awful headlines about Ethiopia and Africa. I came from there, and I wanted to share what it was really like, and how it made me feel. It's beautiful, and Amharic is a beautiful language. I felt in my soul that it was something that I needed to share."

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TIFF Review: Stella Meghie’s ‘The Weekend’ Is Witty, Raw & Proves That Three Is Always A Crowd

Everything can change over the course of three days, as is chronicled in Stella Meghie’s biting comedy The Weekend. Struggling stand-up comedian Zadie (Saturday Night Live alum Sasheer Zamata) is 29, and — as she puts it — "extremely single." Regrettably, Zadie's nonexistent love life is mostly for lack of trying on her part. When she isn’t busy trying out new material on stage, she’s still pining over her ex-boyfriend turned reluctant friend Bradford (Tone Bell), even though they haven’t been together romantically in three years. To make up for skipping out on his birthday soirée for loftier plans — like eating an entire pizza and wallowing in self-pity, Zadie gifts Bradford with a first edition, signed copy of W.E.B. Du Bois’ The Souls of Black Folk. She also invites him on a weekend getaway at her parents' bed and breakfast in picturesque northern California. Much to Zadie's disdain, Bradford invites his girlfriend, Margo (DeWanda Wise) along as well. Bougie and well-put-together, Margot knows exactly who she is. Meanwhile, Zadie — who is still trying to figure her life out — can’t take it. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Things start off on the wrong foot before the trio even arrives to the bed and breakfast. However, their trip takes an intriguing turn when a single, very sexy guest named Aubrey (Insecure’s Y’lan Noel) arrives, and takes an interest in the plucky, self-deprecating Zadie. Zamata and Noel’s scenes together are some of the best of the film, and stand out because they allow audiences to see Zadie in her own light without Bradford's shadow cast over her.

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