Netflix’s ‘Burning Sands’ Is A Riveting Assessment of the Perils Of Greek Life & The Vulnerability Of Black Manhood

If you exist outside of the Greek world, and certainly if you attended a predominantly white university as a student of color, Greek life swirls around you.

You may be familiar with probates and socialize with friends who are members of sororities and fraternities, but you stay along the outskirts of it all. In his feature film debut, director Gerard McMurray peels back the curtain on Black Greek life in a shocking and riveting film about brotherhood, sacrifice and the freedom of individual choice.

Burning Sands follows Zurich (Trevor Jackson), a college student at the fictional Fredrick Douglass University, trying to survive Hell Week as a Lambda Phi pledge. With his academic work, girlfriend and social life all on the back burner, Zurich attempts to press forward with the hopes of making it through Hell Night; capturing the glory that is awaiting him on the other side.

We’ve all heard whispers about the hazing that occurs when pledging various Greek organizations, but it’s mostly unspoken, remaining below ground and so ingrained in the tradition that it’s never shown the light of day unless some major trauma or tragedy strikes. As he moves through Hell Week with his fellow pledges, enduring beatings, emotional abuse and so forth, Zurich begins to question his commitment to it all. His Big Brothers are ferocious and unrelenting in their punishments. Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes, Segun Akande, and Rotimi star as Big Brother Fernander, Malcolm, and Edwin respectively. Their physicality, as well as their near constant taunting keeps the pledges on edge.

And yet, if you watch Burning Sands (or simply try to analyze the film's trailer) focusing solely on the trauma that Zurich and his line brothers endure, you would be missing McMurray’s entire point. Shot over the course of eighteen days on the Virginia State University campus, Burning Sands tells a story about Black brotherhood and what it means to belong to something much bigger than yourself. The hazing is admittedly horrible, and I would be naive to think that there is no truth to these volatile acts. However, it is not every story; nor is it the thread that makes this film so powerful. Instead, Burning Sands is a coming of age story about legacy, bonds, and the choices that shape us forever.

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Image: Netflix 

Review: Jordan Peele's 'Get Out' Is A Witty & Ferocious Horror Film That Unravels Modern-Day Racisim

In a debate on the subject of being Black in America, James Baldwin once said, “To be a Negro in this country is really… never to be looked at. What white people see when they look at you is not visible. What they do see when they do look at you is what they have invested you with.” There is a choice among some white people, to stand in their apathy and ignorance, clinging on to stereotypes about other groups and races in order to continue to make themselves feel superior. What comes forth in the wake of this, are ideals that are entrenched in both bigotry and white privilege, which are so horrifying that they are often borderline amusing.

First-time director Jordan Peele of “Key & Peele” explores modern-day racism through his hilarious and witty satirical horror film, “Get Out.” Brilliantly written, “Get Out” follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya in a career-defining role), a 26-year-old Black photographer who goes home with his girlfriend of five months, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams) to meet her family for the first time. Chris’ initial apprehension about the trip grows, especially after his homeboy, TSA agent, Rod Williams (Lil Rel Howery) warns him about going home with a white girl. His unease eventually prompts Chris to ask Rose, “Have you told your parents I’m Black?” Though she assures him her parents are not racist, Chris doesn’t seem too convinced. As expected, the duo barely reaches Rose’s parents secluded lake house before the micro-aggressions begin to swallow Chris alive.

Despite the warm welcome from Rose’s parents, Missy and Dean (Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener respectively), Chris immediately starts to feel uncomfortable and out of place. (Hell, so did I.) The Armitages are almost “too nice” as if they are overcompensating for something. Their Black “hired help” also does little to put Chris at ease. The groundskeeper, Walter (Marcus Henderson), displays a quiet stoicism that appears to barely mask an underlying burning rage. Likewise, Georgina (the sensational Betty Gabriel), the housekeeper, embodies a Stepford wife, who hasn’t quite perfected the correct dosage of her happy pills. Right away, Chris feels that there is something off about the Armitage household. And yet, in the midst of such an awkward social and racial space, he tries to both ignore and justify their odd and often offensive behavior. This is particularly evident when Missy, a psychotherapist, tries to convince him to undergo hypnosis to cure his smoking habit.

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Interview: Director Sam Pollard On His New PBS Documentary 'The Talk- Race In America' & Speaking Out Against Injustices

Since our journey began in this country, parents of Black and brown children have had very frank and often chilling conversations with their offspring about encounters and interactions with law enforcement. While many police officers honor their code; others wield their power by brutalizing, terrorizing, murdering and wreaking havoc throughout communities of color.

In his two-hour PBS documentary, “The Talk- Race In America” veteran filmmaker Sam Pollard tackles police and race relations across the United States of America. Through six different segments, Pollard looks at a diverse number of perspectives from various communities as well as the police themselves, showcasing what has so deeply divided us while trying to determine how we can begin to change the narrative.

Pollard also speaks with well-known figures in our society including, rapper Nas, actress Rosie Perez, and director John Singleton, each whom have had their own personal and unforgettable encounters with law enforcement. Ahead of the film’s premiere, I sat down to chat with Sam Pollard about constructing this story and what we can tell our children as we move forward.

Aramide Tinubu: Hi Sam, how are you?

Sam Pollard: Doing good Aramide, how are you?

AT: Fine, thank you. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me about “The Talk.”

SP: My pleasure.

AT: You’ve worked on everything from “Eyes on the Prize,” to “American Masters” for Zora Neale Hurston and August Wilson, so you’re a master storyteller, especially when it comes to capturing the African American experience. So, how did you get the idea to do “The Talk?”

SP: Well, you know the idea really came from CPB, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. They felt they wanted to do something that looked at this conversation that parents of color have with their children about what happens when they interact with the police, and they wanted to look at it from all perspectives. They approached WNET about wanting to do a two-hour film and Academy Award nominee, Julie Anderson put me on this as the supervising producer. So that’s how I got involved. However, I’d like to say this, as a person of color who has been making documentaries for over thirty years, it’s been one of my main responsibilities that all of the films I do, be it “Eyes on the Prize,” or “August Wilson,” or “Rise and Fall of Jim Crow;” that we present the African American experience, because a lot of people don’t understand that’s American history also.

AT: That’s very true. For me, “The Talk” felt like a very different type of documentary for PBS. It had a very different tone, and what I really loved about it was the overarching, all-encompassing view across the country on police violence from different perspectives. We heard from the Latino community, the Black community, and you even looked at the police. So how did you tackle the different segments? How did you decide which stories you needed to tell?

SP: Well, Julie [Anderson] and I, both felt it was important to do a broad spectrum of looking at this story and looking at the complications of the story. We not only wanted to do it from the perspective of the people in the community, but we wanted to get the perspectives of law enforcement too. We felt it was important that we had stories that sort of touched on different areas. So, we had our associate producers, and our researchers do extensive amounts of research. In searching for those stories, part of this process is just getting down to a story that we think would be the most appropriate and then start making the film. And that’s where we came up with the different types of stories. We had the story of the police academy in South Carolina, that’s trying to make sure that their police officers understand how they need to be able to interact with the people in the community. That was one important story that we felt that we needed to do. We wanted to do a story about this organization called the Ethics Project that was developed by this woman named Christi Griffin. We wanted to look at how people of color felt it was important to get out and talk to white people, people who aren’t from our communities, to understand what we have to deal with every day when we become involved with the police. We wanted to do a story that looked at the Latino perspective. That’s why we found the story of Oscar Ramirez who was killed out in California. So, we were trying to make sure that we didn’t just become very narrow-minded in how we wanted to approach and be approached in telling this story.

AT: You talked about the extensive research that went into making the film. What was that process like, and how long did that take before you actually began filming?

SP: Well, we started the process in October of 2015. Then, as we did the research we started to reach out to different producers who we thought might be a good fit for the stories we wanted to do, and we brought them on in January 2016. We didn’t really start any actual production until March of 2016. So it was five months of pre-production before we actually went out into the field.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Sundance Interview: The Cast Of 'Burning Sands' Talk Pledging, Hazing & The Bonds Of Brotherhood

Fraternities and sororities at historically Black colleges and universes have had a significant impact not just on the students who are a part of them but on the Black community as a whole. In films like “Drumline” and “Stomp the Yard,” which are set on HBCU campuses, we often get a small glimpse into the sacred world of pledging, the focus of these film shining a light on other aspects of college life. Perhaps not since Spike Lee’s 1988 film “School Daze” has there been such a major focus on pledging Black frats and sororities and the hazing that often comes along with that.

In his feature directorial debut, “Burning Sands” director Gerard McMurray gives an emotionally honest and raw look into the world of 21st-century fraternity pledging. Told from the perspective of Zurich (Trevor Jackson “American Crime’) who is torn between honoring a code of silence and standing up against the intensifying violence of underground hazing, the film is a dark and gritty look at the bonds of Black brotherhood and rites of passage. Alfre Woodard, Steve Harris, Tosin Cole, DeRon Horton and Trevante Rhodes also star in the film. Ahead of the film’s Sundance debut, I got a chance to chat with Tosin Cole and DeRon Horton who play Frank and Square, respectively. We chatted about the history of pledging, getting into character and forming a brotherhood.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Interview: Filmmaker Raoul Peck On His Oscar-Nominated 'I Am Not Your Negro,' Encountering James Baldwin & Confronting America

In his spellbinding and heartbreaking Academy Award nominated film, “I Am Not Your Negro,” Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck examines the story that James Baldwin never finished writing. “Remember This House” was to be a sweeping narrative exploring the lives, journeys, and deaths of three pivotal men in our history; Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. An intricate and fascinating narrative, “I Am Not Your Negro,” gives us a view of both Baldwin and Peck’s journeys as Black men in America, encountering racism and violence.

Recently, Mr. Peck and I sat down to chat about the highly acclaimed film, the thirty pages from Baldwin’s unfinished text that sparked the idea and Peck’s own confrontation with America and Hollywood in our current political climate which as Baldwin stated, is one full of “apathy and ignorance.”

Raoul Peck: Hi Aramide

Aramide Tinubu: Hello, Mr. Peck how are you?

RP: I’m fine, thank you.

AT: Wonderful. I wanted to say first and foremost that I thought, “I Am Not Your Negro” was stunning. I saw it at the New York Film Festival last fall, and I watched it again last night. It is so riveting, especially considering the political climate that we find ourselves in.

RP: Thank you.

AT: I wanted to ask you first about how you got a hold of the notes from James Baldwin’s “Remember This House.” How were you able to get his estate to agree to hand them over, and what prompted you to do this film after receiving them?

RP: First of all, I decided a little more than ten years ago to tackle Baldwin; to go back to Baldwin. I’ve lived with Baldwin all of my life. I read him very early on as a young man, and he never left me. Baldwin is not somebody who if you read a book or two you cast him aside. He’s not that kind of writer. He’s a philosopher; he’s a poet, he’s a visionary. He has almost a scientific approach to this country, to the world and to human beings. So, he’s almost like a private philosopher that you can come back to and help understand whatever issue that you have or political question that you have. It’s all in Baldwin already. So you can read different books at different stages and come back to that thinking. So it’s very coherent. When I decided to go back, it was more or less to share that thinking with other people because I felt the time was right, and I felt that we really needed a voice like this. Because there were some victories with the Civil Right’s Movement; we have Martin Luther King Day, we have Black History Month, most people think everything is good now, we’ve solved all of the problems. We have monuments; we have museums. But, that’s not the case.

AT: Not at all.

RP: It was necessary politically to bring that back to the forefront and to bring these words in the forefront. When I went to inquire about the rights, everybody told me, “The estate will never even answer your letter, they are known to be very reluctant.” But, I just wrote a letter, and they responded within three days.

AT: Wow!

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Raoul Peck

A Shadow and Act Sit Down With The Cast & Crew Of 'Hidden Figures'

It is no secret that American history is often white-washed and male -centered, erasing the dedicated work of women and people of color; especially Black women who have worked tirelessly throughout time to make this country what it is today. The story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, Black female scientists and mathematicians who played an integral role in getting the United States into the race for human space flight is just one of those stories. Based on the compelling book by Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures” tells the story of this visionary trio of women who crossed every barrier in order to make space travel possible.

Recently at a press conference in New York City, I got the opportunity to sit down with Taraji P. Henson (Katherine Johnson), Octavia Spencer (Dorothy Vaughan), “Hidden Figures” author Margot Lee Shetterly, producer Pharrell Williams, Director Ted Melfi, NASA Astronaut Stephanie Wilson and NASA Historian Bill Barry. The cast and crew discussed why they were inspired to come on to the project, what they learned from the real-life figures, and why this history is so important today.

“Hidden Figures” is a film about bringing everyone together. Can you discuss how you brought the cast together?

Theodore Melfi: Octavia Spencer was the first actor to read the screenplay, and she said she wanted to be involved right away. She couldn’t even decide which role, but she decided she wanted to be involved. When I got the script and the book proposal…it all started with a fifty-five-page book proposal that Margot Lee Shetterly wrote. Margot grew up around these amazing women. I’ve also wanted to work with Taraji [P. Henson] since I saw “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” I thought she was just brilliant in it, so watching her grow to Cookie on “Empire,” I knew she could pretty much do anything. She’s a consummate actor first and foremost. Then, Janelle Monáe, I wanted someone new and fresh, and Janelle came in and auditioned and strangely enough fought for the part just like her character fights for her rights in the film.

Taraji and Octavia, since you are playing women who actually existed and did all of these things, how important was it for you to know about them personally, versus just the film version of these women?

Taraji P. Henson: When you are portraying a person that is very real, in my case, Katherine [Johnson] is still alive, she is 98-years old; there is a responsibility to get it right. So, as soon as I signed on to the project, I asked Ted immediately if she was still alive. When he said yes I said, “I have to meet her immediately.” At the time she was 97, so I flew down with Ted, and when we got there, her daughters came out and met me and they were so happy. They said, “We’re so glad they got you to play our mother.” I was like, “No, pressure.” (Laughing) I went in to sit with Katherine, and it was like waiting for the queen. That’s how it felt. She came in, and I was just like, “Wow, I’m in the presence of a real life superhero.” I guess the biggest thing that I took away from Katherine was her humility. When you talk about superheroes there are selfless, they don’t think about themselves, they put humanity first. I talked to her, and I tried to make it weighty by asking things like, “How as a Black woman did you do it? They were misogynistic, and I’m sure you got called the n-word.” She was just like, “Well, that was the way it was. I just did my job. I wanted to do my job.” She was just so humble. She would always say, “we.” In my mind I’m like, “No, Katherine it was you. It was your mind alone that got [John] Glenn to orbit the earth.” He didn’t say, “Go get so in so.” He said, “Go get that smart girl.” But that fact that that she sees the “we” in “I,” blew me away. Also her passion for math, the way I light up when I get asked questions about acting is the way her eyes danced when she talked about math and how she wanted people to fall in love with numbers the way that she did. If I had a teacher like that, I could have been a rocket scientist. When I was growing up, no one ever said to me, “You cannot do math because you’re a girl.” But, there was an understanding growing up that math and science were for boys. Somebody lied to me because this woman exists, all of these women existed. I made it my mission to do this film right because I didn’t want another girl to grow up believing the myth and the lie. I’m gonna give it to Octavia because I can go on and on.

Octavia Spencer: (Laughing) Thank you, Taraji. For me, it was a very different process because [Dorothy Vaughn] is no longer with us, but her family is and her legacy remains. Even though I knew I wanted to be a part of the film early on, when I finally knew that it was going and that I was going to be in the movie, it was a three and a half week period; so very little time. I started panicking, and I then thought I should Google and find out as much information about Dorothy as possible. But there was very little. Now if you Google her, you will see a lot of things referring to Margot’s book and you’ll get to see NASA archives, which I got a lot of that and you’ll see a lot of things referring to the film. But, it was important to get it right. It is important to learn as much as you can about the person and then throw it all away so that you’re not in any way doing some sort of mimicry. What was wonderful was that Ted gave us a lot of the archival footage from NASA and then the opening chapters that corresponded to our characters. He didn’t betray Margot by giving us a lot of the main text, he was like, “I’m only giving you the background.”

TPH: The book was being written while the film was being shot, so it happened simultaneously.

OS: Yes. There were lots of moving parts. So for me the research part was integral but, if this is the first time these women are being introduced to the world in this way, there are enough negative images of Black women out there and I did not want to portray [Dorothy] in any stereotype. I wanted to make sure that her integrity was preserved.

The opening scene of the film where the women have a car issue and the cop comes up, it just resonates so well with what’s happening today. Do you think that’s one of the reasons the film is so compelling because it speaks to the world that we are living in now?

OS: The opening scene for me is like this beautiful metaphor of what was to come in their lives; the love and comradery and fidelity that they had with each other as friends. But it was a twisty winding road that they had to navigate and negotiate in a very interesting way and I think Ted did a brilliant job in displaying that.

TPH: He really did! I think that scene is just so powerful because you can feel the whole audience brace themselves when the cop arrives. But what’s beautiful about that scene is that you see this man unlearn racism right before your very eyes, and it proves to you that your perception can change in a manner of minutes. And that’s when you know that racism is learned. He literally sees that these women mattered, these women’s lives mattered to the great space race so that negativity that he was about to spew on to them shifted in a blink of an eye. If we as a human race can all get back to one goal that we can focus on, I think that the world would be more balanced.

TM: I think that opening scene is also a classic example of art imitating life. We wrote that scene and shot that scene long before the string of police shootings against Black motorists. Who could have predicted that? Who could have predicted the passing of John Glenn? These things make the movie even more important to us.

Let’s talk about the juxtaposition between the NASA world and what was happening in real life. Did anyone have a chance to speak with Katherine about what it was like to be in that world and then to step outside and have to battle for human rights?

TPH: I did touch on that when I spoke with her, but what I notice even when I talk to my grandmother or anybody who is from that era is that they didn’t wallow in the muck, they didn’t do that; they just didn’t. Yes, they marched when there was an injustice, but every day was not a march. At some point, they said, “OK, this is what it is. Put your head to the ground, grind and get through it, because your hard work is going to open up doors for those coming behind.” So Katherine never complained, it just was what it was. She just said, “I just wanted to go to work and do my numbers.” And she stopped right there. I think about that as a Black woman in Hollywood when I’m asked about diversity. I hate when people say diversity because the first thing you jump to is Black and white. When you talk about diversity, you’re talking about women being hired in front of and behind the camera. You are talking about people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community…so I hate when people think about diversity, and they look at the Black actor, and they’re like “Go!” It’s like; we’re just scratching the surface. It just doesn’t start with me. We think so small. When I get that question I don’t go, “Yeah, well you know they don’t pay me.” That’s not my story. I own six properties; Hollywood has been damn good to me. Now you can ask me, “Have they paid you what you deserve?” That’s the question, but you’d have to go to the studios, I don’t know. I do the work! But to go back to your point, it gave me this new perspective to stop complaining. There is always going to be love versus hate; we struggle with that as humans within ourselves every day; as a society, we have to struggle. So when you wake up, you have to decide which side you’re going to be on. Hopefully, that side is positive, so you do the work and hope that your legacy will help change things.

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Interview: Denzel Washington, Viola Davis and Stephen Henderson On Returning To 'Fences'

Returning to their roles six years after the Tony Award-winning revival of August Wilson’s “Fences” stunned Broadway; Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, and Stephen Henderson are at long last presenting the sixth play in Wilson “Pittsburg Cycle” to film audiences.

The play, which was written in 1983 and first debuted on Broadway in 1987 is one of Wilson’s most beloved and well-known from his Twentieth Century Pittsburg Cycle. Set in the 1950’s, “Fences” follows 53-year old sanitation worker Troy Maxson and his family, who are struggling to thrive in the racially tense era. Recently, at a screening for the film in New York City that I attended, Academy Award Winner Denzel Washington who is directing and starring in the film, Academy Award Nominee Viola Davis, and Tony Award Nominee Stephen Henderson, sat down for a post-screening Q&A. They discussed their return to “Fences,” adapting it for film, and what August Wilson’s work means for us today.

Denzel, getting “Fences” to the big screen has been a very long process for you. What did you see in the play that made you realize it would make a great film? I understand that August Wilson wrote the screenplay.

Denzel Washington: In 2009, Scott Rudin sent me August’s original screenplay and asked me what I wanted to do with it. He wanted to know if I wanted to act in it, direct it or produce it. I said, “Well, let me read it first.” (Laughing) So, I read it, and I realized I hadn’t read the play, so I read the play. I had seen the play in the ‘80s, so I thought I was too young to be Troy or too old to be Cory. I was thinking about when I saw it in the ‘80s. And then, when I read the play and it said, “Troy, 53-years old” and I was 55 at the time, I said, “Oh, I better hurry up.” So, it was as simple as that. I called Scott Rudin, and I told him I wanted to do the play, so that’s how the ball got rolling. I never said, “I’ll do the play, and the next year I’ll do the film, I just wanted to do the play.”

When you talk about adapting a play into a film, there is a lot of discussion about opening up the world. For all of you, because you were all in the play, let’s talk about recontextualizing some of the scenes because we are able to move away from the yard in the film.

DW: Well, let me just say before they speak, I never thought about opening it up, I don’t even know what that means, I just thought about where else would it make sense for this scene to take place. I thought, “Why can’t Rose walk in the kitchen?” So we used the front yard, the backyard, the kitchen, we used the front room; we used the porch, we used the front street and upstairs and other places, the back of the [garbage truck], the sanitation yard, the insane asylum, the bar, and that worked well.

Stephen Henderson: It all fit, it really did. Pittsburg fit. Spiritually speaking we knew that we were on streets that August had walked and that he had mused on back when he was just writing. Because he wrote, he wrote before anybody was doing it. So to be in touch with that and to have his family there, it was really rich. The community we were in, they so welcomed us.

Viola Davis: They were so protective of the work.

DW: We had a guy, a gentlemen by the name of Mr. Greenleaf who lived behind the house we were shooting in, and he was like a part of the movie. (Laughing) He would come downstairs, and he couldn’t hear well to say, “Ya’ll want some coffee?”

How did you calibrate this world as a director?

DW: We had depth, and we wanted to take advantage of that cinematically. When you look in one direction where Troy’s chair was, you could see out through the yard across the street, there was an old cork bar advertisement for five cents. We wanted it to feel like this was real life and that it extended blocks and blocks.

Viola, can you talk about working with Denzel both as an actor and then having him as a director?

VD: Well, Denzel just knows the actor. He knows the process, and you don’t often get that. Sometimes people come in as a director, and they just want the result, and they barely want that to tell you the truth. Sometimes directors barely talk to the actors; they are so focused on the cinematic elements of the movie, getting the shot and getting the lighting right or getting the CGI effects right and all of that, and they just trust that you are just going to do what you do. Obviously, [“Fences”] is not a piece you can do that with. It is a character-driven piece in every sense of the word, and Denzel knows the actor. He gave us two weeks of rehearsal. He is a truth teller, and he is a truth seer. So he knows when something is not going in the right direction, and he will call you on it. But, he knows the word to use to unlock whatever is blocking you. So I think he’s fabulous and he’s a teacher.

DW: Keep going girl!

VD: (Laughing) When Denzel first called me on the phone after we’d just done a reading of the film. He said, “Oh Viola it was so good, wasn’t it?! I’m gonna tell Russell [Hornsby] to lose a little bit of weight and…” I was just sitting there thinking, why is he calling me? And I told him, “Denzel don’t you tell me to lose weight!” He said, “I’m not telling you to lose weight! I can’t believe you would say that.” He was rustling with something and when he came back it was with a word about loving myself and the body that I’m in because I was still going on and on about the weight thing. I just liked that, because what people don’t understand is that so much of what blocks us as actors is so personal. So it just great. Lloyd Richards is another director who was like that, who was a teacher. When a director can give you a word that allows you to feel less tense about yourself, to make you feel like you indeed are good enough before you even get to the work, you can’t ask for anything more than that.

Since all three of you worked together on the stage play, what was it like bringing in the new cast members for the film?

SH: It was very very easy to open up to them. Both of the new people were so respectful of the work and glad to be there. Nothing was taken for granted, coming into the film.

DW: Just so you know the new people are Jovan [Adepo] who played Cory and the little girl.

SH: Saniyyah [Sidney] and Jovan, they both came, and they were so respectful towards the work. Once of the things Mykelti Williamson, Russell Hornsby and I did is we took Jovan out to Greenwood where August is buried. I’d been there a few times, and we took him out to his headstone, and I remembered this tree, and that’s all I remembered. I saw a tree and it was a wrong tree, but Jovan saw this other tree and ran up, and he got there first. For me, it was really a sign. There was so much about this whole experience that proved that the people who were brought to it, were brought to it by forces. I mean they were brought to it by Denzel, but Denzel is such an instinctive kind of person. He’s an instinctive artist and instinctive in terms of his feelings about people. So, it was very easy and Saniyyah, well forget about it. She’s an old soul; she’s been here before.

Speaking about Saniyyah, what was it like finding her in the casting process because she is such a crucial character?

DW: She just had “it.” I didn’t want to audition the kids so much; I just wanted to talk to them because I like seeing how they are because their mothers usually mess them up with practice. So, I’d rather talk to them and see how they respond. I just throw things at them and see how they can hit the ball back, and she was good. I even asked her why she wanted to be an actor and she said, “I’m serious about this. These other little kids they want to play, and I don’t have time for that.” She was very serious about her work and her craft, and she wanted to be good, and she wanted to work on it. So I said, “Ok.” It was as simple as that. She was just right. She just has it.

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Image: Fences/Paramount 

Ava DuVernay Meets Raoul Peck: How Black Narratives Collide In Two New Documentaries — NYFF

We exist in a world of cycles. Perhaps nowhere else in society are these cycles as prevalent as they are in the entertainment industry. When I grew up in the ‘90s, there were a plethora of black faces on the big and small screens. From Will Smith’s “Fresh Prince” to  “Living Single” (aka the original “Sex and the City”), I could turn to any network television station to see myself, or the people closest to me, represented in some way on screen.

Though diverse programming was rich and plentiful in that first decade of my life, the second decade ushered in a near complete erasure of brown faces. While megastars like Will Smith and Denzel Washington were able to garner leads in films, other black actors were relegated to sidekick positions or “magical negro” roles. This new age of entertainment extended to the small screen as well. As shows like “Moesha” and “Girlfriends” aired their final episodes, black actors were pushed into the background, appearing only as guest stars or rarely seen at all. In the past few years, the regulation of black bodies to particular spaces has shifted once again. It appears that we have returned to a moment where black lives are more interesting than ever; and from the perspective of an insider looking out, this “sudden shift” comes as no surprise at all.

Continue reading at Indiewire.com

NYFF REVIEW: ‘I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO’ IS A HAUNTING, EXCEPTIONAL FILM ON JAMES BALDWIN’S VIEWS ON RACE IN AMERICA

I have always known what it means to be Black, but being Black in America was something I had to discover. As a middle-class Black girl born and raised on the South Side of Chicago to parents who deeply valued education, I lived in a bubble of sorts. All types of literature and films about Black history and pride were available to me, and the spaces where I spent my childhood, my elementary and high schools, summer programs and my neighborhood were full of all types of Black people. My mother had subscriptions to Ebony, Essence, and Jet, and my father on a night out, would dress regally in Nigerian lace; gold glittering both himself and my mother. I’d learned of Civil Rights and had even experienced racism myself; though discussed briefly and forgotten quickly, when I stepped over the threshold of my house. This world that my parents had so diligently forged for their eldest dark-skinned daughter was promptly shattered when I arrived in New York City for undergrad. It was there that I truly discovered what it means to be Black in America.

Black pain is old; swirling around tens of dozens of lifetimes; James Baldwin wrote about Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem before Kaepernick was even born, he described the Rodney King beating and Ferguson half a century before either event occurred. That’s because the history of being Black in America is not new. It is old and worn and painful; just as exhausting today as it was yesterday. As I’ve been a witness to the murders of Philando Castile and Sandra Bland among so many others, James Baldwin was witness to his own journey in America, atrocities that made him feel both isolated (forcing him to retreat to Europe at times) and weary.

In his heartbreaking documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro,” Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, examines the story that James Baldwin never finished writing. “Remember This House” was to be a sweeping narrative exploring the lives and journeys of three pivotal men in our history; Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. These exceedingly different men who Baldwin knew well and loved, refused to give into the isolation and invisibility cast over Black people in this country. As a result, none of these men lived to see the age of forty.

Continue Reading at Shadow and Act.

So this is a thing that happened. 🎬🙌🏿 . . . . . #chocolategirlscreens #iamnotyournegro #chocolategirlinterviews #jamesbaldwin #filmcritic #blackhistorymonth #blackgirlswrite #raoulpeck #shadowandact

A post shared by Chocolate Girl In The City (@midnightrami) on Feb 13, 2017 at 11:31am PST

NYFF Review: Ava DuVernay’s ’13th’ Confirms the American Prison System as a New Era of Slavery

Growing up, prison seemed like an abstract concept to me, one reserved for “Law & Order” episodes and select family members who would be absent every other Christmas or Thanksgiving holiday. It wasn’t until I arrived in college in a class on Black Urban Studies, that I was educated about the mass incarceration that occurs in this country. I watched the 1998 documentary “The Farm: Angola, USA,” and read Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” It was through these two mediums that the system of dehumanization and oppression was revealed to me. I distinctly remember feeling horrified that the prisoners of Angola were required to pick cotton as a part of their daily tasks. Slavery was, after all, long ago abolished. However, I soon learned and continued to learn that nothing ever really goes away; it’s merely reinvented into a more easily digestible package ripe for public consumption.

Slavery was abolished in 1865 with the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” That loo‪p‬hole in the text is essential. It allowed the government to begin criminalizing Black bodies as a way to continue stealing their labor, since slavery was no longer legal. In a rapidly ‪paced documentary which spans from the end of the Civil War until the present day, Ava DuVernay’s “13th” is a sobering look at our corrupt prison and judicial systems, and the relentless terrorizing of Black people.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay on why trauma is not our story. She just presented her new Netflix documentary "13th" at NYFF. Review coming soon via @shadowandact.film.tv.web #Netflix #13th #chocolategirlreviews #chocolategirlscreens

A video posted by Chocolate Girl In The City (@midnightrami) on Sep 30, 2016 at 10:06am PDT

TIFF: ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Cast Talks Sexual Violence, Revolution and Resurrecting Nat Turner

When I was asked to attend the screening and press junket for Nate Parker’s “The Birth Of A Nation” at the Toronto International Film Festival, I was hesitant. A film which I had been so looking forward to seeing for the better part of a year, suddenly made my stomach turn. The thought of putting my ideas and opinions on the project and filmmaker out for the world to see was daunting. The details surrounding filmmaker and actor Nate Parker’s rape trial in 1999, as well as his callous remarks in the past months regarding that time, were and are unsettling.

After reading those first interviews Parker gave to Variety and Deadline, I was sure I could not support “The Birth Of A Nation”. Rape is a heinous crime, and his words then further instilled in me that he did not understand the horrifying damage that was inflicted on the now deceased victim. (Though Parker maintains his innocence and was acquitted, it’s clear that he was not given verbal consent.) I also felt that if I saw the film, I would be contributing to a society that continues to validate rape culture, victim blaming and misogyny. Then I was asked to attend TIFF.

Prior to attending, I read the interview Parker gave with EBONY’s Britni Danielle where he apologized for his self-centered comments and has vowed to continue to learn and educate himself. I also read his co-star Gabrielle Union’s (who herself is a rape survivor) LA Times op-ed on Parker and “Birth”.

In the end, I decided to attend the screening and press junket. As a woman, I feel like what the film has sparked outside of its actual narrative, are vital conversations about rape, consent, sexual violence and the way in which we handle and discuss all of these things. These are desperately important conversations. Men especially need to continue to educate themselves and ask hard questions about their own masculinity and about consent. Too often the burden has fallen on women to protect ourselves from male predators.  Moreover, as a Black woman, Nat Turner’s story is endlessly important to not only the Black American community but also to American citizens as a whole.

I do not know if Nate Parker should be forgiven, that is not for me to say; he most certainly should not be excused for his actions then nor his initial response now. And yet for me, Parker’s personal actions then and now do not negate the importance of this film. Whether you decide to see this film or not, is a decision only you can make, just as I had to make the choice for myself. However, just as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass and so many other of our Black leaders are important, Nat Turner’s voice should not and cannot be silenced.

Sexism, sexual violence, hyper-masculinity, misogyny, and racism all deserve platforms because they exist simultaneously and they often intersect. “The Birth Of A Nation’s” narrative, perhaps more than anything else in pop culture right now, proves that. At the very least, we MUST continue to talk about these very difficult topics. I will note that in the TIFF Press Junket, Parker was asked directly by a reporter from The New York Times, about why he has not apologized to the victim and her family, Parker declined to answer her question and instead focused the conversation back on the film itself. Journalists are supposed to ask difficult questions, and this was certainly one that I felt warranted a response. However, as the question had been addressed previously, it was unsurprising when Parker chose to ignore it. Furthermore, the manner in which the journalist blurted out the question could have contributed to why Parker chose not to respond. But however these questions are presented, I feel that it is imperative that these types of questions don’t get pushed aside. To do so would only continue to perpetuate the horrific rape culture that continues to thrive in society.

“The Birth Of A Nation” is a stunning cinematic work, not just about Nat Turner’s revolution but about the history of our nation, one that bleeds into who we are, today and the circumstances in which we find ourselves. At TIFF the film received a six-minute standing ovation once the credits rolled and the majority of the cast including, Aja Naomi King, Armie Hammer, Aunjanue Ellis, Colman Domingo, Gabrielle Union, Jackie Earle Haley, Penelope Ann Miller and Nate Parker were on hand to discuss the making of the film as well as the controversy surrounding it. This is what they had to say.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Talking @thebirthofanation with the @ajanaomi_king who deserves EVERY AWARD for her stunning portrayal of Cherry #tiff2016 #chocolategirlinterviews #chocolategirlreviews

A photo posted by Chocolate Girl In The City (@midnightrami) on Sep 11, 2016 at 10:29am PDT

ESPN’s ’30 For 30′ Alum Ezra Edelman’s ‘O.J.: Made In America’ Is a Sweeping Work on the Seduction of Simpson’s Celebrity Juxtaposed Against a Devastated Black L.A. Community

The year Orenthal James Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, I was entering Kindergarten. I vaguely remember the hoopla surrounding the trial, sitting on my father’s knee while he discussed it with his friends, or hovering around my mother and my aunts; my ears listening intently to “grown folks business”. The things that I heard at that time, I didn’t really grasp. As I grew older, especially as Simpson’s behavior became more publicly erratic leading up to his 2007 arrest and conviction, I formed my own opinions about the fallen man who in my eyes, was so obviously guilty of the heinous crimes. And yet for one moment in our country’s history, Simpson’s privilege without regard to his skin color let him slip through the system.

Though my generation has come to learn more about the egotistic football star and actor with projects like FX’s “The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”, it’s the moments leading up to the sensational trial that are absent from our imaginations. How did this affluent Black symbol living in this country during the ’90s get to this point?

Directed by ESPN’s “30 For 30” alum Ezra Edelman, “O.J.: Made In America” reaches back in time to find a stunningly handsome young running back from the San Francisco projects who would become The Man on USC’s lily white campus during the late 1960’s. During a time when the country was rife with racial tension and animosity, O.J. Simpson began seducing the public with his easy charm and football abilities, while simultaneously working to shed his blackness. Edelman takes a microscope to Simpson’s career and personal life, and then pans out, giving the viewer a sweeping scope of the racial climate of the United States and more specifically the migration of Black Americans to Los Angeles, California.

At the Museum of Moving Image last Thursday, I screened Parts 1&2 of “OJ: Made In America”, the first three hours of Edelman’s masterful five-part documentary saga. I found myself seduced and charmed by the magic of “The Juice”, while concurrently enraptured by the history of Black people living in L.A. from the mid-1960’s to the 1990’s. If you are ever going to watch anything on O.J. Simpson’s “O.J.: Made in America” is the project to see. The film looks well beyond the wholly ambitious athlete into the Watts riots, the killings of Eula Love and Latasha Harlins, the destruction of the apartments at 39th and Dalton and the beating of Rodney King. As much as this is a documentary on O.J., it’s one of the Black people living in Los Angeles during this time period, and a country that was able to create and sustain these polarizing worlds. It is perhaps one of the most compelling documentaries I’ve ever seen.

After the screening ended, Edelman sat down to chat about his two-year journey to complete the project, his narrative structure, and the things he left unsaid.

Continue Reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: ESPN

Tribeca Review: Ghanaian Filmaker Priscilla Anany’s ‘Children of the Mountain’ is a Graceful Film About Motherhood, Sacrifices & The Frailty of Our Humanity

As a Black woman, who is currently child free, motherhood seems like a foreign concept to me. The thought of putting someone else’s needs and desires above my own is an alarming idea, one I’m uncertain I’ll ever be prepared for. What I do know about motherhood is what I’ve learned from my own mother. You simply have to give; openly, freely, and without question.

Ghanaian director Priscilla Anany’s debut feature, “Children of the Mountain” follows Essuman, a beautiful yam merchant through her journey of acceptance and motherhood.  Played by Ghanaian/Nigerian actress Rukiyat Masud, Essuman lives in metropolitan Accra.  She has chosen to defy tradition by boldly taking up with her neighbor’s man, and having his child. The film opens in the final days of her pregnancy. Though her neighbors whisper about her circumstances, she holds her head high while proudly rubbing her swollen belly. Essuman is arrogant and naive about her future. Like many women that have come before her, and those that will come after, she has allowed herself to get swept away in her lover, Edjah’s, empty promises. Determined to bring a male child into the world, so that Edjah will marry her, Essuman’s dreams are shattered soon after she gives birth.

Essuman’s son, Nuku, is born with a clef lip, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. As he takes his first breath, the bubble that has encased Essuman immediately bursts. Appalled by the baby’s appearance, Edjah uses his mother as his mouthpiece to reject both Nuku and Essuman. The cruel, old woman goes as far as to suggest that Essuman put the child out of his misery. Essuman’s sole confidant during this tumultuous time is her best friend, Asantewaa.  A barren woman, Asantewaa sees the beauty in Nuku even when Essuman refuses to. It is not Essuman, but Asantewaa who comforts and holds him during his first days of life. Though Essuman eventually begins to bond with her son despite his disabilities, a heartbreaking diagnosis from the doctor sets her off into an obsessive tailspin.  Desperately searching for a cure to her son’s illnesses, Essuman leaves no stone unturned.  She seeks the help of everyone, from conniving medicine men to volatile religious leaders.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Children of the Mountain

Urbanworld Review: Jamal Joseph Tackles Cycles and Second Chances in 'Chapter &Verse'

So much of what ails the Black American community occurs in cycles. Blatant and institutionalized racism has led to poverty, mass incarceration, gang violence, and so may other problematic issues. Unfortunately, these problems occur time and time again, because the root of what is broken remains unfixed.

Produced by acclaimed director Antoine Fuqua, Jamal Joseph's "Chapter & Verse" is a film about terrible cycles, chances of redemption, and most importantly, it’s a film about fatherhood in the Black community.

Compassionately played by actor Daniel Beaty, (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jamal Joseph), the film follows S. Lance Ingram aka Crazy L from 118th, on his quest for a fresh start. Newly released from prison after an eight year sentence, Lance has returned home to Harlem, NY; a neighborhood that has been drastically transformed since his initial imprisonment. Harlem was once a neighborhood fully of violence and impoverishment; ramifications form the crack cocaine epidemic and the War on Drugs. However, gentrification has quickly given much of the area a complete overhaul.  Living in a halfway house, Lance attempts to get work by using the computer technology skills that he’s acquired in prison. Instead, he is only able to find employment at a soup pantry, washing dishes and delivering meals to those in need.

On one of his runs, Lance encounters Miss Mandy (played exceptionally by veteran actress Loretta Devine) and the duo strike up an unlikely friendship. As Lance works to redefine himself in society, and make the best of his second chance, he continually encounters Miss Mandy's troubled 15-year old grandson Ty, who is involved in the small but dangerous Harlem street gang, The Runners.

Since Miss Mandy can’t seem to get through to Ty, Lance takes it upon himself to try and show the angry young man some direction. He understands all too well the path that Ty is going down, and he tries desperately to get him to walk away. What is poignant about Lance and Ty’s relationship are the quiet moments. They observe one another often. Ty unwittingly looks to Lance as a guide, an example of manhood, while Lance is constantly considering how he should approach Ty. It’s a dynamic that is often glossed over when discussing the relationship between Black men and boys. And yet, Joseph captures it perfectly onscreen.

Continue reading at Shadow and Act.

Image: Chapter & Verse Film