On Cultural Appropriation, Gentrification And Horror With The Director Of Brooklyn Beauty Shop-Set 'Hair Wolf'

Cultural appropriation and gentrification have dwindled down to buzzwords – quick utterances and headline grabs instead of raw in-depth conversations about the havoc and devastation that occur when these processes are implemented. Filmmaker Mariama Diallo and producer Valerie Steinberg wanted to examine how destructive cultural appropriation is to black culture specifically in an age where mega-popular white social influencers are desperately trying to claim black art and history for themselves. With her film Hair Wolf, Diallo moves beyond a straightforward conversation about the commodification of the black identity – choosing instead to subvert the norm and present her perspective in a horror comedy. Set in modern-day Brooklyn, Hair Wolf centers around a black beauty shop whose staff must fend off a terrifying monster – a white woman determined to suck the life out of black culture.

The film won the Sundance Jury Award in the U.S. short film competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Recently, I sat down to chat with Diallo about Hair Wolf and why it was so necessary for her to make. "There are several layers to the whole origin story of the film," Diallo chuckled. "On the most immediate level, I was outside my apartment building with my dog and my boyfriend, and I saw a box braid lying on the ground. On any given Brooklyn early morning, you might find a bit of weave or like whatever else it may be. When I saw the box braid, I pointed to it and said to him, ‘Braid?’ (My boyfriend) misheard me, he thought I’d said, “Brain." So we had a very amusing conversation about zombies and hair salons and zombies in hair salons. That just seemed like a really fun idea to me."

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How Black Dollars Made Warner Bros’ 'Rampage' No. 1 At The Box Office

The summer box office season has vanished. With an ever-changing industry and the erasure of mid-budget films, Hollywood has started rolling out what would have been their massive summer blockbusters at various times throughout the year. With the rise of the superhero genre, the return or some massive franchises like Star Wars and J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, studios are pulling audiences into theaters whenever they can, and more often than not, a large percentage of that audience are Black and brown faces. In 2016, a year that saw Moonlight, Hidden Figures, and Fences all released to critical acclaim, Black people made up 15 percent of frequent moviegoers, while comprising of just 12 percent of the U.S. population. As films have slowly become more diverse, we continue to head to the theaters in droves. In fact, when the Dwayne Johnson action adventure Rampage was released last weekend, sliding into the number one spot with $34.5 million earned domestically, it was Black dollars that really contributed to the film’s success.

Johnson is obviously a massive star who has a unique way of engaging with his audience, but Warner Bros. marketing strategy in a post-Black Panther world was also vital. After Rampage’s opening weekend, Shadow and Act sat down to chat with Warner Bros.’ VP of Multicultural Marketing, Terra Potts, about why Black people came out in droves for the film. “I think it happened for multiple reasons," Potts explained. “In Rampage, specifically, I think it's because when you have a star as big as Dwayne Johnson, and Dwayne has this special quality that I think not a lot of movie stars have where he's so accessible, and he's able to transcend any boundaries that exist. He just brings in audiences in a very unique way, and his films always perform well with a multicultural audience. I think he just did it again here."

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Sacha Jenkins Talks Hip-Hop's Legacy & Netflix's 'Rapture'

Hip-hop is continually changing and evolving. In his new Netflix docuseries Rapture, director and executive producer Sacha Jenkins examines hip-hop as we know it today through the eyes of some of the genres biggest artists. The eight-episode series follows Nas, T.I., 2 Chainz, Rapsody, Logic, G-Eazy, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Dave East -- lyricists with different legacies and at various stages of their careers. In his episode, Jenkins follows Illmatic legend Nas and his protégée Dave East. Fifteen years apart in age and from different boroughs in New York City, the two men speak about their respective come-ups and all they’ve encountered to get where they are today. Ahead of Rapture’s Netflix debut, Jenkins and I spoke about the series, how technology has transformed the music industry, and why artists must speak for themselves.

For Jenkins, Rapture was about looking at hip-hop from a new perspective. "I was a journalist writing about hip-hop for many years," he explained. "To see it first hand and to have the kind of intimate access that we had, I knew that was something that hip-hop could use right now. I know that hip-hop is the most streamed, most popular form of music in the world, and it's very easy for people to be into hip-hop just on the strength of the way it sounds, (and) the way it feels. But, I know as a native that there are so many things that get lost in translation, and I felt that a series like (Rapture) would give people a real window and therefore a deeper understanding of what hip-hop really means, (and) where it comes from."

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Lakeith Stanfield On 'Atlanta' And Playing Characters With Sh*t To Say

Lakeith Stanfield is intensely captivating. It’s fairly early in the morning, and he’s huddled over a plate of fruit, tucked away in a crisply lit condo in Park City, Utah. Stanfield flew in from Germany – a short hiatus from the project that he’s currently working on -- to attend Sundance Film Festival. He has to be exhausted. With starring roles in Sorry to Bother You, Come Sunday and a spoken word show in the festival, this is one of the first times the 26-year-old has been able to just sit and chill. Stanfield lets his long limbs rest on his chair as he hovers over the table, his booming voice almost a surprise as it rings out in our quiet surroundings. It’s been quite a year for the San Bernardino native, who made his feature film debut back in 2013. Get Out is Academy Award-nominated and Boots Riley's wonderous Sorry to Bother You is the most talked about film of the festival. Stanfield is also set to return to our TV screens in March in the much-awaited second season of FX's Atlanta. “I'd like to take credit and say it's all my doing but, I'm just really fortunate to be surrounded by these creators who are doing daring things at this time,” he said, reflecting on his bustling filmography. “I have the disposition that I want to be a part of things that say something and move the needle. We try to weed out things. We can do that now by the way. When I first started out, I didn't have that luxury. I was just trying to work."

In Sorry to Bother You, Stanfield stars as Cassius, a telemarketer desperate to make his mark in the world, but that’s only the beginning of this mind-bending story. It spirals into something more imaginative than anything you’ve seen on screen before. For Stanfield, roles like these are a dream come true. “I'm trying to be aware of what I'm doing," he explained. “I love my people. I love our story and where we come from and our journey in this country. I'm interested in being one of many faces in it that can speak to it if I can. It feels good to show people that we can be human. We can be anything. We can be silly. We can be crazy. I grew up feeling like I was strange and things of that nature. It feels good to reiterate the idea that that's okay.”

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18 Unforgettable Films to Watch During Black History Month

We can’t get through Black History Month without talking about the significance of Black film and how it has influenced the culture. Oscar Micheaux’s 20th-century race films were made to combat mistrial images of the era. Sir Sidney Poitier reigned in the 1960's. There was the Blaxploitation era of the '70s,  Black City Cinema of the ‘90s and now there is a current resurgence of Black films. Like the rest of popular culture, Black folks have made their mark in movies. Though there is a vast list of acclaimed Black films, we chose some of the most unforgettable movies to watch during Black History Month. Friday

F. Gary Grey’s feature film debut from the script written by Ice Cube was destined to be a classic. Fresh off his performance in Boyz n the Hood, Cube was clearly ready to write his own stories.

The film’s premise is simple; Craig (Ice Cube) is fired on his day off, and we watch what happens in the aftermath of the fallout. Joined by his homeboy Smokey (Chris Tucker), the men decide to get high and get into more shenanigans. The characters in Friday are what makes it so iconic. From Mrs. Parker to Felicia and obviously the late Bernie Mac’s Pastor Clever -- the lines in the flicks are endlessly quotable.

Soul Food

Family and food will always be timeless for Black folk, and George Tillman Jr.’s 1997 flick Soul Food paired both of them together. The Chicago set film follows three grown sisters, Teri (Vanessa L. Williams), Maxine (Vivica A. Fox), and Bird (Nia Long) who are trying to come to grips with the death of their mother Big Mama (Irma P. Hall)

As the matriarch's death begins to rip the family apart, it's up to Maxine's pre-teen son Ahmad (Brandon Hammond) to get the family back together again. We know you remember that scene when Vanessa Williams pulls that knife on her cheating husband.

The story was so dope that it spawned a long-running television series on Showtime. In the Heat of the Night

Despite the racial politics of the time, Sir Sidney Poitier dominated the box office in the 1960’s, and one of his most memorable films was the 1967 flick, In the Heat of the Night. In the film, Poitier plays a straight-laced detective Virgil Tibbs, who heads to the South to help catch a murderer.

Obviously, the good ole boys don’t take too kindly to his presence. The film pretty much goes as one would expect for Hollywood during that time period except for the fact that Poitier slaps the sh*t out of the racist white sheriff. It was the first time a Black person had ever hit a white person in the movies.

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'Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me' is an electric look at an enigmatic performer (TIFF Review)

Black entertainers in this country shoulder a burden that we don’t often consider – that of representation. Even now in the 21st century, the Black artist must carry the entire race with them as they navigate career, politics and the complexities of their personal lives. Watching from the sidelines, we expect –perhaps unconsciously, for these larger than life figures to make choices that are conscious of their Blackness. We are desperate for them to recognize that their visibility affects the community as a whole. In the 20th century, at a time when Black visibility in the entertainment space was nearly scarce-- consummate entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. an enigmatic and unparalleled talent was often labeled an Uncle Tom and sell-out. He was seen as out of touch with the realities of everyday Black people because of the company that he kept publically. In his well-honed and rapidly paced documentary Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me, filmmaker Sam Pollard dives deep into the six-decade long career of Davis -- one that began on the streets of Harlem and ended just before his death in 1990, with a television tribute starring everyone from Michael Jackson to Gregory Hines.

A man with no formal education whatsoever, Davis had traveled across the country ten times by the time he was 10-years old. Born into a family of entertainers, Davis won his first amateur performance at three years old, and he would continue to defy expectations and shatter glass ceilings throughout his career. Using Davis' own words with old archival footage of interviews and his performances, with input from historians and his friends, lover, and admirers, including, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis and Kim Novak, Pollard's film is electric.

Despite his magnetic career, Davis’ desperate desire to be seen as merely an entertainer and not necessarily a Black entertainer put him at odds with the community. It was something that deeply pained him, especially since he was a patriot, avid member of the Civil Rights Movement and a dear friend to Martin Luther King, Jr. Though they are often overlooked when his career is considered as a whole, Pollard is careful to highlight Davis' philanthropic and civil contributions. Dear friends with Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis and Harry Belafonte, Davis raised over $5 million for the Civil Rights Movement during Freedom Summer. He was awarded the NAACP Spingarn Medal, and he was present at both Selma and the March on Washington.

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Interview: Director John Trengove talks South African coming-of-age drama, 'The Wound'

ohn Trengove's South African coming-of-age drama, The Wound is a visceral and powerfully done film about queer Black identity and its intersections with Ukwaluka, the rite of passage for male Xhosa teens— a rural tribe in the country. The film follows Xolani (Nakhane Touré) an isolated closeted factory worker who returns each year to act as a khaukatha, or mentor for the younger boys. However, his real motive in returning is to seek comfort in the arms of his secret lover, Vija (Bongile Mantsai), a married father of three and fellow mentor whose outward performance of masculinity makes him both him feared and admired. When Xolani is assigned to Kwanda (Niza Jay Ncoyini) a Westernized posh teen from the suburbs of Johannesburg, everything Xolani has long kept buried deep begins to rise to the surface. With Trengove, a white South African in the director's chair, The Wound has already be shrouded in contraversy— something the filmmaker expected before taking on the project. "I think now, with all of the dialogue around the film— a lot of the criticism and backlash to the film ... This is still part of the learning process, " he told Shadow and Act. "I feel like I'm still going through the process of making The Woundand these conversations an integral part of that process."

Ahead of the film's debut, I sat down to speak with Mr. Trengove about why he decided to write and direct this film, what The Wound says in conversation with Berry Jenkins' Moonlight and what he's learned about himself during this entire process.

Aramide Tinubu: What inspired you to write this story and how did you connect with the author Thando Mgqolozana to get into this world since you are really an outsider to Xhosa culture?

John Trengove: I think that's the million dollar question. It started with a conversation between a colleague and myself, Batana Vundla, who's a producer. He actually became a co-producer on the film, and we spoke about the possibility of making a queer film in South Africa. We felt this that was something that was not being done and at that point. That was five years ago, and with Batana being both gay as well as Xhosa—the conversation sort of moved organically towards the idea of the rites of passage into manhood. The thing that suddenly became sort of meaningful to us was this idea that at the time, the media was quite saturated with statements of people like Robert Mugabe saying that homosexuality was un-African—a Western decadence, that it was against traditional African culture. It seemed meaningful to us at that time to kind of intersect these two ideas. A story about same sex desire in a very specific traditional context, which is a rite of passage into manhood. I think also that is what sort of opened the full aptitude to a broader thematic potential than just let's say a queer film for a queer audience. It allowed us to kind of speak about bigger things like patriarchy and fractured masculinity and all these ideas I was interested in unpacking.

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Interview: Filmmaker Allen Hughes reflects on HBO's 'The Defiant Ones'

How do two very different men — one Black, and the other Italian — from opposite ends of the country shift and bend the trajectory of the modern day music business? In his new comprehensive 4-part documentary, master filmmaker Allen Hughes explores the lives and careers of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine — both veteran music producers, executives and co-founders of Beats by Dre. The Defiant Ones is a gorgeously done work, which weaves in personal interviews and rchival footage, opening with Iovine's entry into the music world during the'70s through our current times.

Ahead of The Defiant Ones premiere, Shadow and Act's Aramide Tinubu sat down to chat with Hughes about the docu-series, why it was such an emotional project for him and why he's now a better director as a result.

Aramide Tinubu: I know you got the idea for the title of the series from the 1958 Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis film from '58. How did you decide you wanted to tell this story, from Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's perspective and in this manner?

Allen Hughes: Dre and I were gonna do on his life. This was way before Straight Outta Compton. Then, I found out that Jimmy had just talked to HBO about an Interscope documentary, and a light bulb went off. I went, "You know what? I think the better, more original, most dynamic way to tell this story is to tell both their stories and get a glimpse into the partnership. Especially in these days and times, too, with how racially charged things are. A white Italian man from Brooklyn, a Black man from Compton, and they've been together for over 25 years, and they went on to build this massive company called Beats. They still are just as affectionate and fun-loving with one another, and trust each other, as the day they began.

AT: You said that the process started before Straight Outta Compton was even being filmed. So, when did you actually start putting this all together?

AH: Four years ago was the beginning of the process, but the physical process started a little over three years ago. Four total, three physical.

AT: As a director, how did you decide which components of Iovine and Dr. Dre's personal and professional lives that you were going to include?

AH: It's interesting. Once you get to part three, which I think is all so interesting and special and dynamic, and people have their favorites, but part three is the feature-length one, and it's when things get ... They start off fun and then it gets out of control, and it becomes dangerous. You'll see when you get to that part and four, but particularly part three, where you go, "Oh, wow, this is a massive canvas. This is just not about Jimmy and Dre, this is about something that went down in the '90s that was so explosive and so positive, and then it took a left turn at a certain point. How do we get the train back on the tracks?"

AT: Why was HBO the right platform to tell this story?

AH: I have an emotional attachment to HBO, just as a fan. They're just class. I've also heard throughout the years, and I've worked with them on things that didn't end up on the air, but the way they deal with the talent, filmmakers, and artists, they really support you. This process was supposed to take a year, and here were are. They weren't bugging out. They were very supportive of me. I always knew that about them. I'll tell you something that's hilarious. This project was my Trojan Horse into HBO 'cause I've always wanted to work with HBO. So I'm like, "If I can get this done..." The landscape is changing. The one thing that hasn't changed is HBO is always trying to do something different, noisy, but they have a tremendous amount of class to what they do, how they roll something out. You look at this documentary ... I don't know how what city you live in; what city do you live in?

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Review: A Powerful Look at Connection for Black Trans Women in 'Walk For Me'

We all go through moments of transition. These moments are those significant periods in our lives when the core of our beings break free, and our inner self is truly revealed. Once we take those brave steps into the light, there is no going back, or turning away. We must stand bare under the glaring lamp of the general public to be poked, prodded, and whispered about. Perhaps no other group knows these moments of revelation quite like those of the LGBTQ community. From being shoved aside in their cultures, to being thrown away by their own families, moments of revelation can be brutal and crippling. Those who identify as transgender women of color in particular often face a terrible plight. In the past decade alone, over four hundred trans women have been murdered, and their lives and deaths have been overlooked as if they had never existed at all. In his short film “Walk For Me,” director Elegance Bratton highlights one of the most pivotal moments in a young trans person’s life. Struggling with her identity, Hannah (played by Aaliyah King) retreats into herself, away from her mother, Andrea (played by Yolanda Ross) who is both desperate to connect with her while simultaneously fearful and ashamed of her daughter’s identity. Andrea’s fear and lack of understanding causes her to lash out violently against her child. She also insists on calling Hannah by her birth name Hassan, which continues to erode their already strained relationship.

There have been many films about the LGBTQ experience in the 21st century. Damon Cardasis’ recent coming of age musical drama “Saturday Church,” focuses on a young teenager, who similar to Hannah is trying to define himself, In the face of a hostile familial environment, he desperately grapples with his identity and sexuality. “Walk For Me” stands out, however, because it hones in on one specific moment for Hannah. It is the exact instant that will either lead to final rejection or acceptance from her mother.

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Interview: Cast Of Netflix's 'The Get Down' Talk '70s, Music That Birthed Hip-Hop & Where Their Characters Are Headed Next

The second part of Baz Luhrmann’s 70’s set musical drama, “The Get Down” is finally hitting Netflix on Friday, April 7th. The lush and vibrant series follows Bronx native Ezekiel “Zeke” Figueroa (Justice Smith) and his group, The Get Down Brothers on their quest to hip-hop superstardom. Zeke’s girlfriend, Mylene Cruz (Herizen Guardiola) is also desperate to make it big in disco and escape her oppressive religious upbringing. Also along for the ride is Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore) an aspiring DJ who is trying to keep his side hustle going at the same time The first part of season one of “The Get Down” set the scene for the birth of hip-hop as it evolved from funk and disco. The second part of “The Get Down” will jump a year ahead to 1978 where Mylene and The Get Down Brothers are making a name for themselves on the music scene.

Ahead of the premiere of Part 2, I sat down with Justice Smith, Herizen Guardiola and Shameik Moore to discuss what they’ve learned so far about the birth of hip-hop, where their characters are headed, and how the music of the ’70s has influenced them today.

Aramide Tinubu: “The Get Down” is such a wonderful concept that really encompasses and embodies a specific generation. What does it mean to you when people approach you and say, “Oh my God, you captured that time and that generation so well”?

Herizen Guardiola: I didn’t have the biggest idea about the ‘70s or even about hip-hop until the show. We got to work with the hip-hop OGs of the ‘70s, so the fact that we captured it and it’s authentic according to people who were actually there, I’m happy. That’s what we wanted to do, and I think we did it pretty well, so I’m really happy about that.

Justice Smith: It speaks to what we managed to create together. Baz [Luhrmann] supplied us with all of these resources and all of these, movies and music and books and all of this stuff. He wanted us to really immerse ourselves in that time period and in that culture so that we weren’t putting something on screen that was disingenuous. So, when someone comes up to us on the street who is actually from that place and time period and says, “You guys did it justice,” it’s a huge moment, and it extends to the entire family because it was all of us coming together to make it as authentic as possible.

AT: How have things been for you guys since the success of the show?

JS: It’s been amazing. I’m just so grateful to be a part of something that so many people connect to, and it’s really revolutionary in a way to bridge that age gap by telling a story that hasn’t been told before about the origins of hip-hop, and about the South Bronx. Even young kids are coming up to us and saying how inspired they are. I have aspiring rappers and poets coming up to me and being like, “I’m half- Black and half –Puerto Rican as well, I’m from the Bronx as well, you inspired me to write more.” That kind of stuff really touches my heart.

HG: I have people ask me, and I answer honestly, they say, “I’m really good at singing, or I’m really good at this art form, and I really think I have a chance, should I give up school and do it?” I’m like Jesus Christ. [Laughing] I answer honestly because I kind of did that. I could have gone the school route, but I was like, “Nah, I’m good at this thing I love to do, and I think I can make a career out of it.” So, I always say the most cliché thing, I say, “If you think you have a chance you should follow your dreams, you’re not going to be happy doing anything else, so what’s the point?” It’s your life; you need to be happy in your life.

AT: Through your relationship with Baz, you have gotten a sort of education in media, and new opportunities are presenting themselves for you.

HG: Yeah! For me, coming on to the show, I’ve opened up a whole new chamber of myself, and I’ve just let it expand, and I’ve grown. I’ve even gotten in touch with my Latina heritage more. So for me, it’s been an eye-opener and a learning experience. I’ve really become a different person through this but in the best way.

AT: The way that this series was shot is so interesting to me, shooting one chunk of the first season and then another, what did you all learn about yourselves and your characters by going through this particular filming process?

HG: (Laughing) I learned that I have a lot more patience than I thought I did, and I have a whole new side of understanding that it’s not just you that is a part of something. I’m working in a collective consciousness to reach and get a story out. I really became a team player. So, you learn that give and take flow, and I learned that even more on the show because we really had to be a support system for each other. I came straight out of high school, moved to New York at eighteen, not knowing anybody or anything. So, these boys and my girls and Baz and the Netflix team, they’ve been my support system, and we have become a family. I’ve learned about myself.

AT: The music is obviously an extremely important aspect of the series. However, there were some whisperings that it needed more hip-hop even though, we all know that without disco and funk there would be no hip-hop. Could you explain what your emotions and state of mind were going back and listening to some of that old music especially if you hadn’t heard it before?

JS: There are certain hip-hop artists from that time period that I feel ashamed that I didn’t know before. When people my age ask, “Who is this?” I’m like, “Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, how could you not know that?!” Or Afrika Bambaataa or Houdini, all of them. My parents are both musicians; my dad is a funk musician, so I grew up listening to Earth, Wind & Fire and things like that. So, that was not new to me, and I had heard “The Message” from Grandmaster Flash, so that was the extent of my knowledge of that time period. Then delving in deeper, I realized how expansive this world was, and how there are songs that I’ve heard on the radio that are literally an extraction of a beat from ‘The Message.” There are also lines or couplets from songs from the ‘70s that the people of our generation don’t really even realize influences our music today. It was really interesting to see and to make that connection.

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Hour 2 Of 'Shots Fired' Hints That Pastor Janae James Might Be At The Center Of It All (Recap)

Hour two of Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s compelling mini-series “Shots Fired” was full of broken promises and underhanded moves. “Betrayal Of Trust” opens with deceased teen Jesse Carr’s father approaching Deputy James Beck as he arrives home. Gun in hand, Carr’s anger and heartbreak is both palpable and understandable. However, when we learn that he had not been an active member in his son’s life, we realize a great deal of his regret comes from his own shortcomings. From then, the web of lies and the deceptions in episode two of “Shots Fired” continues to spin out of control. Ashe (Sanaa Lathan) and Preston (Stephan James) are still working their own angles on the Beck/Carr case behind each other’s back. Though their work is always at the forefront, personal issues continue to distract them. Ashe is trying to prepare herself to battle the father of her child in court. Her daughter’s father wants sole custody, and from what we know about Ashe, he’s definitely got grounds to get it. Meanwhile, Preston is dealing with his own familial obligations. His father (Dennis Haysbert) is in town, and though he’s thrilled about the visit initially, his NFL star older brother, Maceo (Shamier Anderson) quickly swoops in seizing his father’s full attention. Snagging a spot at Harvard Law instead of a Major League Baseball career apparently was not the move Preston’s father wanted for his son. Despite all that’s happening in their personal lives, Ashe and Preston realize that they do in fact have a common goal. To thoroughly investigate the death of Jesse Carr, they must also investigate the death of Shameeka Campbell’s (DeWanda Wise) son, Joey. The case of the unarmed white teen and the slain Black teen are obviously related somehow; they just need to determine how they link.

Relegated to desk duty, Deputy Josh Beck has come to the realization that wearing a badge doesn’t erase the color off his skin. Ostracized by his work colleagues and his family members who think he’s a sellout, Beck might be on his very last leg. It doesn’t help that Officer Breeland, one of the supervisors on the force, is an outright racist. Beck is also shocked to learn that he has been ousted from the police union which means not only has the department turned their back on him, but he’s also now responsible for his legal fees. I’ve never heard of a police union ejecting a white officer after they’d slain an unarmed person of color; for Beck this is the ultimate wake-up call. He’s officially become a lone wolf.

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Unraveling Hour One Of 'Shots Fired'

WARNING—Spoilers ahead. There are levels to this. That was my first thought after screening Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s ambitious mini-series “Shots Fired” for the second time. At first glance, the series appears to be an inverted tale, ripped straight from the headlines. In the fictional town of Gate Station, North Carolina (where 65% of its citizens are Black), an unarmed white college student has been gunned down by the only Black deputy, Josh Beck (Mack Wilds). Since it’s an election year and she can’t bear to have “another Ferguson” on her hands, North Carolina’s liberal female governor (Helen Hunt), calls in the big guns to help manage the crisis before everything bursts at the seams.

Enter Ashe Akino (Sanaa Lathan), a fixer and private investigator and special prosecutor Preston Terry (Stephen James), an unlikely pair hired by the Department of Justice at the request of the governor. As the two begin to try and unravel what exactly has happened, they are left with way more questions than answers. Quite frankly, so am I. As I said when I first screened the pilot way back in September, this is only the road map, and we don’t quite know where it’s going to lead.

There are several things still buzzing around my consciousness, after screening “Hour One.” Despite the fact that Wilds’ Deputy Beck seems naïve and remorseful, the video of him declaring to kill “crackers” unveils an entirely different side of him. It’s also extremely puzzling to me why he would choose to go into law enforcement in a community where he is the only Black face on the force. I realize that cops live and die by their code, but something just isn’t right here.

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Interview: Seith Mann On VH1's 'The Breaks,' Revisiting The '90s & The Origins Of Hip-Hop

It’s so deeply embedded in our culture now, that it’s hard to remember a time when hip-hop was just a movement. It was once the ugly step-sister in the music industry desperate to shine, and it took some very ambitious and brazen people, to push the sound of a generation to the forefront of mainstream culture. Picking up where the two-hour television movie (which aired last year) left off, “The Breaks” television series is about being ambitious, embracing the grind and never settling for anything less than what you want. Set in the summer of 1990, “The Breaks” follows Nikki Jones (Afton Williamson), David Aaron (David Call) and DeeVee (Mack Wilds) as they claw their way up the ladder in the music industry during a time when hip-hop was seen as just a fad.

Director Seith Mann has fleshed out his characters and storylines, shining a light on the dedication and sacrifices that have long since been forgotten. Recently, I spoke with Mann about the series, what inspired him to tell this story, and how his characters have shocked him.

Seith Mann: Hi Aramide, how are you?

Aramide Tinubu: Hi Seith, I’m well how are you?

SM: I’m blessed and highly favored.

AT: Wonderful! First and foremost, congratulations on season one of “The Breaks.” I know we’re only about halfway in, but it’s already gotten such amazing reviews, and it’s so well done.

SM: Thank you very much, I appreciate that!

AT: No problem! So, I would love to chat about what inspired you to do this piece. I know that Dan Charnas’ book, “The Big Payback” was really instrumental in inspiring the idea for you, but did you know prior to reading the book that you wanted to work on a piece about hip-hop in the ‘90s?

SM: I was reading the book because I wanted to do a historical piece about hip-hop, and how hip-hop has become this thing; this world power. It was so much bigger than just music at a certain point, and I knew it didn’t start that way. So, I was doing a bunch of research because I was a kid who grew up listening to rap, but I wasn’t in the music business, I just listened to it all of the time. I didn’t know the history like that other than just being a fan. “The Big Payback” was one of the many books that I read. It was the one that really touched me because it was just so spot on. It was non-fiction written like fiction; it was a page-turner. It’s like a one thousand page book or something like that, and I couldn’t put it down. I read it really fast. At the same time, the author of the book, Dan Charnas had set it up at VH1 to do a movie. The research agent Chris Lawson, who had helped me find the book, flagged the project for me, and I started talking with Maggie Malina who is the Head of Scripted at VH1 and Dan about exactly what they had in mind. I went back and forth with Dan about the story, and before I knew it, it was mine to tell. So, that’s how I got involved with it.

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A Discussion With Amirah Vann & Robert Christopher Riley On Exploring The Horrors Of Domestic Violence On 'Underground'

NOTE: This includes very light spoilers from episode 202, “Things Unsaid,” which airs tonight on WGN America. This season of “Underground” is shaping up to be incredibly explosive, and only one episode has aired so far. One of the most enthralling aspects of this season has been the storyline around Amirah Vann’s character Ms. Ernestine and the domestic violence that she experiences. Separated from her entire family and enslaved on a rice plantation in South Carolina, Ernestine has found herself attached to an extremely volatile man.

Ahead of episode 202 “Things Unsaid,” I spoke with Amirah Vann and Robert Christopher Riley who plays Hicks, Ernestine’s lover and abuser on the series. We spoke about domestic violence within the institution of slavery, present-day advocacy, and their heartbreaking storyline.

Aramide Tinubu: Slavery was obviously a very brutal institution, but we don’t often consider the violence that occurred amongst enslaved people themselves. Did you know much about Hicks’ journey and trajectory before signing on to do this season of “Underground”?

Robert Christopher Riley: There was specific scene towards the end of the season which was the audition scene. It has a very long monologue, and if you pay attention, it’s all in there. At that moment, you learn who this guy is. I’m no stranger to any of our history, American or Caribbean. So, looking at Hicks’ story and what he’s gone through and obviously what he’s letting pass through him and the behavior that he’s mimicking; slavery was horrific for everyone.

AT: What about you Amirah? Did you have any idea that this would be Ms. Ernestine’s journey this season prior to reading the first few scripts?

Amirah Vann: I didn’t know prior to reading the first few scripts. The writers have such fantastic imaginations. They have an idea of where the journey is going, but they definitely keep things to themselves as they progress because they are always open to doing something else and taking things in a new direction. But once I read the first few scripts and I knew, I was thrilled because it’s another opportunity to speak and give voice to a really important crisis worldwide. I also knew that there was going to be a multitude of people who could identify and hopefully be helped in some way.

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SXSW Review: 'Dara Ju' Is A Brilliant Examination Of The Struggle Linked Between Familial Obligations & Crushing Personal Ambition

As the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant, many of my formative years were spent trying to please my father. Though it was unspoken, I was expected to thrive both academically and socially. I dared not dream of following the crowd, and there was no wide berth given for any girlish teenage slip-ups. Luckily, I loved learning and school, so a great deal of the time I held up my end of the bargain. However, when I didn’t, when I wasn’t interested in taking a higher-level math course in high school or learning more about my Nigerian ancestry, a storm would brew between the two of us, incinerating everyone who stood in our paths. In Yoruba, the phrase “dara ju” means “best,” and that was what my father wanted me to strive for. And in his feature-length directorial debut of the same name, director Anthony Onah explores what it means to cling onto that standard while experiencing immense pressure in every aspect of your life.

In “Dara Ju,” we meet 24-year old Seyi (played by Aml Ameen), a tightly wound and ambitious Wall Street trader who is finding it increasingly difficult to balance his two worlds. Through Onah’s use of tight frames that capture Seyi’s face and mannerisms, we watch as he travels from his tiny apartment in downtown Manhattan to the finance company where he works, Brown Harmon, each day. Dressed pristinely in tailored suits, Seyi is desperate to prove himself despite his coworkers undermining him at every turn. On the weekends, putting on his façade of the dutiful son, Seyi travels to his parents’ home in Hackensack, New Jersey where his mother and sister Funmi constantly care for his ailing and unyielding father.

Onah’s willingness to deal with the messiness of familial obligations is painfully refreshing in this film. Though his father is desperate to recover from his stroke in order to travel to his homeland once more, Seyi simply goes through the motions in terms of the care he affords his father, resenting the time and money spent caring for a man he no longer respects. It’s evident that some astronomical incident has created a gaping hole in their father/son relationship, and it seems beyond repair.

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SXSW Review: 'The Work' Is A Compelling Documentary About The Barriers Of Invulnerability & The Pain That Shatters Us

Films set in prisons often center around stories of redemption, broken paths, journeys to freedom or the day-to-day movements of those who must now live their lives behind bars. It seems astounding to consider, but the mental, emotional and psychological statuses of those who are carrying out lengthy sentences particularly for violent offenses are often overlooked. Imprisoned men and women are seen as being without redemption; labeled as damaged goods for involving themselves in the things that have led them to jail in the first place. In his directorial debut, Jairus McLeary shifts the lens away from the actual crimes and circumstances that have led men to prison and instead looks at the psychological turmoil that is keeping them in mental chains within jailhouse walls. “The Work” follows a group of men; prisoners who are serving time within Northern California’s maximum security Folsom Prison, and everyday men who journey into the prison to discover what’s ailing them as they move about freely in the outside world. The program, which is run by inmates and ex-convicts of the Inside Circle Foundation, funds and facilitates the retreat. Extending over the course of four days, prisoners leave the politics of prison life (and correctional officers) at the door, engaging in intense group therapy with one another in an attempt to find the source of their pain.

As the film opens, we meet the outsiders who will be joining the prisoners in this revealing process. Charles a bartender, Brian, a teacher’s assistant and Chris, a museum associate, all show up in search of something that either shakes them out of their state of complacency or gives them clarity. With no true narrative in place, “The Work” seeks to follow the men along with their incarcerated brethren on their four-day journey to find some peace and understanding about themselves and their circumstances.

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SXSW Interview: Warren G & Director Karam Gill Talk 'G-Funk' Documentary, Legacy & The Rise Of West Coast Hip-Hop

In the early ‘90s, hip-hop was spreading across the globe, while hip-hop artists from Los Angeles were putting their own significant stamp on the musical genre. N.W.A. was putting gangsta rap on the map, and Warren G, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg were using elements from Motown, Funk, and R&B to create a new style of hip-hop, a style that would be later termed G-Funk.

The childhood friends formed the group 213 and were soon discovered by Warren G’s stepbrother Dr.Dre. However, when Snoop and Nate Dogg were signed to Death Row Records without Warren, it was up to him to break through on his own. In his feature directorial debut ”G-Funk,” Karam Gill sets that stage for Warren G to tell his very personal story about his contribution to West Coast rap and his determination to persevere.

Ahead of the film’s debut at South By Southwest (SXSW) this weekend, I spoke with Warren G and Karam about “G-Funk’s” origins, looking back in time and where hip-hop is today.

Aramide Tinubu: Hi Warren and Karam, how are you are doing?

Karam Gill: Hey how’s it going?

Warren G: Hello sunshine! I’m good; I’m just chilling.

AT: Dope! Congratulations on “G-Funk” and your upcoming premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW). The documentary is amazing, and it really opened my eyes up to some of the history behind West Coast hip-hop that I did not know about previously. Warren, why was it important for you to tell your own story, and how long have you been working on this narrative?

WG: The story has been in my head for years. (Laughing) Back in the day, they had that show on VH1; I think it’s called “Behind the Music.” So this has been in my head for so many years because I wanted to tell my story. A lot of dudes have been telling their stories, and I wanted to let people know what it was that I contributed to West Coast hip-hop and hip-hop culture in general. I created what people now consider the genre, G-Funk.

AT: Karam, how did you come onboard this film as the director?

KG: I met Warren I want to say two or three years ago. I was like nineteen or twenty at the time. I was in college, and I was just shooting photos, and I met him backstage. We went on the road together, and I did a bunch of tour stuff for him; just media work and marketing and branding stuff, and after awhile he would always mention these little tidbits from his life. They were these stories about G-Funk and whatnot. We realized that this was something that needed to be told right now. It’s this incredible story that no one knows, and so we started developing it.

AT: Los Angeles in the ‘90s is such a particular type of environment and space. I think John Singleton really was able to grasp it in his films, and more recently Ezra Edelman really got the tone right in his docu-series “OJ: Made In America.” You guys also got the aesthetic perfectly in “G-Funk,” how did you do it? Did you go through old home videos together? What was it like to unearth these things that probably hadn’t been seen in twenty years?

WG: It was incredible, and it just brought back so many great memories, like the moment when I played “Regulate” for Nate [Dogg] the first time. That feeling where you get the goosebumps; just seeing that and looking at it on the big screen was just so incredible. Everything from the things that Snoop [Dogg] said to Ice-T, it was just so incredible for me.

AT: Karam, what was your role in digging up all of this archival footage for the film?

KG: Well, when we first started talking about the film, Warren sent me the contact for someone who had two big tapes of a bunch of stuff. There was this guy who used to follow Warren around in the ‘90s. So I went through it, and I pulled all of the selects, and I showed it to Warren. Right when he saw it for the first time he said, “Wow, this is incredible.” He hadn’t seen it in awhile because it was in storage somewhere. So those were the main two tapes and then there was a bunch of other archival sources that we pulled from. We just kind of fit it together. Warren took a look at a lot of it, I took a look at a lot of it, and we just slid everything in where it fit. One thing we didn’t want to do creatively was force any archival that didn’t cater to the film, which is why we went with reenactments for some parts of it. So yeah it was a joint process for sure.

AT: Warren, one of the things I loved most about the film was your persistence. You knew from day one that you, Nate and Snoop had something with 213. You knew despite all of the setbacks and obstacles that you guys were going to make it. What drove you despite being pushed off “The Chronic” tour and Snoop and Nate being signed to Death Row Records without you?

WG: That moment right there when I didn’t get a ticket to go on tour to be with my brother and my best friends, that moment right there is what changed my whole shit. But, I turned that negative into a positive and I drained all of my energy into just creating music and not letting it ruin me or have me stressed out. All of that just made me work harder because I knew that I was talented because I had contributed to a lot of the successes that were happening at that time. So, I just poured all of the energy that I had into creating and writing music. I came out with “Indo Smoke,” and I also got to produce some music for Tupac and MC Breed called, “Gotta Get Mine.” They caught me at the right time because they caught me when I was trying so hard.

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Image: G-Funk

Review: 'TIME: The Kalief Browder Story' Is A Searing Look At One Man's Stolen Life And A Justice System That Has Failed So Many

The justice system is failing us right now, and it has been for years. If we look at the world around us, the man who walks the halls of the White House and the policies that are reigning down on the citizens and residents of this country, it’s clear that laws are being made to keep us shackled and immobile for generations and centuries to come. We are all being crippled whether literally or morally. However, no group of people has been more devastated, cast aside and broken by the system than impoverished people of color. In her astounding Netflix documentary, “13th” director Ava DuVernay, connected this thread that runs through the past one hundred and fifty years. It is a cycle of impoverishment, imprisonment, death and destruction, and it has been so deeply and so irreparably ingrained in our society that our youngest citizens have given their lives as a result of it.

On May 15, 2010, sixteen-year-old Kalief Browder, a Bronx, New York resident was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. Though he was never convicted of the crime, Browder would spend over the next one thousand days of his life locked away on Rikers Island, being beaten, starved and tortured. He would spend eight hundred of those days in solitary confinement before he was finally released, with all charges dropped in June 2013. On June 6, 2015, at the age of 22-years old, Browder hanged himself at his mother’s home. Not only did the justice system fail Browder, as his fellow citizens, we must also take responsibility.

During the two years between his release from prison and his death, Browder sought to tell his story. As a society, we denied him the right to life, we denied him the right to a fair trial, and in doing so, we attempted to deny his very existence. In a six-part documentary produced by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and The Weinstein Company, writer/director Jenner Furst outlines Browder’s life in detail. He allows the late young man to speak for himself while using archival footage, haunting surveillance tapes, interviews with his loved ones and commentary from activists like Michelle Alexander, Van Jones, and Jay-Z, as well as words from former Rikers inmates and corrections officers. “TIME: The Kalief Browder Story” highlights how deeply broken we are as a society and what little empathy we have for those whose paths are different from our own.

An evocative and emotionally devastating piece of work, “TIME: The Kalief Browder Story” fleshes out the full being of a young man who was under surveillance for the entirety of his short life. This scrutiny never afforded him the opportunity of a complete childhood, much less a chance at manhood.

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Image: SpikeTV

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.

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