Following yesterday’s previews of feature films, here Bold as Love’s previews of the Sundance 2017 slate of Black/Black subject documentaries, experimental films, and short films that you should look out for — whether you’re in the cold of Park City or anticipating the future of cinema in your neck of the woods.
DOCUMENTARIES
WHOSE STREETS?
U.S.A., 2017, 103 min.
Section: U.S. Documentary (Competition)
A nonfiction account of the Ferguson uprising told by the people who lived it, this is an unflinching look at how the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown inspired a community to fight back—and sparked a global movement.
DIRECTOR: Sabaah Folayan
CO-DIRECTOR: Damon Davis
Why it’s a must-see: When civil unrest gets to the level where it takes centerstage in the world’s eyes, the personal is often removed and people within it are made monolithic. It’s not deliberate, it’s a movement, so that happens. Yet Brooklyn-based activist and storyteller Sabaah Folayan, a lead organizer for the Millions March, one of the largest marches for racial justice in New York history, did differently when she traveled to Ferguson, MO in 2014. Unsheathing the truth behind the dramatic scenes playing out on the news, her directorial debut will open eyes, and hopefully minds.
Dates: January 19, 20, 22, 25, 27
See more HERE
STRONG ISLAND
U.S.A./Denmark, 2016, 107 min.
Section: U.S. Documentary (Competition)
In 1992, filmmaker Yance Ford’s brother William was shot and killed by a 19-year-old white mechanic after a common complaint about a car repair spiraled violently out of control. The mechanic claimed he fired in self-defense, and though William was unarmed, he quickly became the prime suspect in his own death. When an all-white grand jury set the shooter free, Yance’s family retreated into a silent fury. Twenty years later, “Strong Island” invents a startling cinematic language to penetrate this devastating collision of paralysis, grief, fear, racism, and injustice.
DIRECTOR: Yance Ford
Why it’s worth watching: Black life is not deemed important to the mass media. That’s a strong statement, proven time and time again. While Black death is an often alluring documentary study, because death period is, how the African diaspora community deals with loss and injustice, itself together a harrowing ordeal as we’re supposed to do it with dignity and silence, is seldom examined from an inward lens. “Strong Island” aims to do so, and with Ford’s producing background, backed by Danny Glover’s sterling reputation as an arts advocate (he serves as an Executive Producer), the intimacy the film is told to provide is desirable.
Premiere Date: January 23
See more HERE
WINNIE
France/Netherlands/South Africa, 2017, 98 min., color & b/w
Section: World Cinema Documentary (Competition)
Supremely controversial, Winnie Mandela has been labeled a woman condemned for her radical role in the liberation of her South African people under apartheid. While her husband, Nelson Mandela, remained securely jailed for 27 years, Winnie brushed the patriarchy aside to fight on the front line and take uncompromising steps to inspire an uprising. While Nelson was remembered as a hero, Winnie was demonized in the global media. Filmmaker Pascale Lamche (who in 2004 directed TV movie documentary “Accused #1: Nelson Mandela”) paints a complex portrait of Winnie Mandela: the woman, the paradox, both exalted and villainized in the eyes of history. Using rich, unseen archival footage and interviews with intimate comrades, this film unravels the tale of cause and effect by which Winnie was taken down.
DIRECTOR: Pascale Lamche
Why it’s hot? Winnie Mandela is a hero. History, as this documentary aims to prove, may see it differently, but to be on the front lines for decades, fighting against raw injustice, and to be constantly undermined – and to live to tell the tale – makes someone even more than a hero, it makes Winnie Mandela a real-life superhero. It’s shameful that it took so long for someone to focus on her demonization in film. Or, perhaps, it comes at the right time…when female filmmakers and artists are fighting for their own due in comparison to what white male filmmakers, and a few others, are receiving. Maybe this is hot because it isn’t past time, indeed, it may be the perfect time.
Premiere Date: January 22
See more HERE
EXPERIMENTAL
KUSO
U.S.A., 2016, 86 min.
Section: Midnight
Partially described as a this “mind-altering freakshow,” this story is tangled up in the aftermath of Los Angeles’s worst earthquake nightmare, broadcasted through a makeshift network of discarded televisions. Travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived, and experience a magical mix of filth-covered fables and hypnotic animations to reveal a film rotting from the inside out.
DIRECTOR: Steven Ellison (aka Flying Lotus)
SCREENWRITERS: Steven Ellison, David Firth, Zach Fox
PRINCIPAL CAST: Iesha Coston, Zack Fox, Hannibal Buress, The Buttress, Tim Heidecker, Mali Matsuda
Why it’s hot? Sundance’s Midnight screenings are usually eerily fun, made even more so this year by musician, now film director, and all-around artist Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison), who similar to our recently featured BaL artist Blitz the Ambassador, transcends the perception of artists staying within one discipline or genre, and thus defying any basic description. The stills alone, much like some of Flying Lotus’ videos (here is a great example), make apparent the sensibilities of directors like David Cronenberg (“The Fly,” “eXistenZ”) and perhaps even David Fincher (“Seven”), which along with featuring off-the-wall comedians Hannibal Buress (“The Eric Andre Show,” “30 Rock”) and Tim Heidecker (“Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories”), makes “Kuso” an easy must-see. Hopefully you survive the experience.
Premiere Date: January 21
See more HERE
SHORTS
NIGHT SHIFT
U.S.A., 2016, 15 min
Screens with Shorts Program 3
Premiere Date: January 20
Get a glimpse into a day in the life of a bathroom attendant in a Los Angeles nightclub.
DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Marshall Tyler
CAST: Tunde Adebimpe, China Shavers, Cisco Reyes, Red Grant, Cairos Heinen, Paul James Jordan
Why it’s hot: The film already seems fascinating, but mixed in the cast of indie film darlings, including TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, with super actress Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVeee Productions as executive producers, their way of furthering a commitment to support emerging Black artists, and this is a film totally worth checking out.
DEAR MR. SHAKESPEARE
United Kingdom, 2016, 6 min., color
Screens with Shorts Program 2
Premiere Date: January 20
An exploration of Shakespeare’s intentions when writing “Othello” explores the play’s racial themes in historical and contemporary settings, and draws wider parallels between immigration and blackness in the UK today.
DIRECTOR: Shola Amoo
SCREENWRITER: Phoebe Boswell
CAST: Ashley Thomas, Phoebe Boswell, Elisa LasowskI, Lanre Malaolu
Why it’s illuminating: Amoo is already coming off a landmark year with the debut of his feature film “A Moving Image.” With this equally internal film, Blackness in the UK is once again examined, making a tenuous juxtaposition between the past and present. Also, Brit actor Ashley Thomas, co-star of “Brotherhood” and the upcoming US television series update “24: Legacy” also stars – and he’s great.
LOSTFOUND
U.S.A., 2016, 12 min., black & white
Screens with Shorts Program 3
Premiere Date: January 20
This story portrays a day in the life of a woman in the Nation of Islam.
DIRECTOR: Shakti Bhagchandani
SCREENWRITERS: Shakti Bhagchandani and Emre Gulcan
CAST: Olivia Washington, Yanna Buttons, Phumzile Sitole, Aaron Samuel Morton, Renita Roberts, Arlene A. McGruder
Why it’s worth watching: The Muslimah within the Nation of Islam are never disregarded, but they are also never focused upon, especially in a wider narrative film lens. I’m holding faith that Bhagchandani does right by the ladies, even though this is a dramatization of real life.
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