Sundance 2016 Films Featuring and Directed By Black Talent
Posted by Wilson Morales
January 20, 2015
Once again, as the new year starts, so do the hopes for several filmmakers and talent who want to have their films picked up for distribution at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.
In years past, we have seen directors such as Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, and Justin Simien walk away from the festival with accolades while actors such as Quvenzhane Wallis, Michael B. Jordan, Emayatzy Corinealdi, and Tessa Thompson leave many producers looking to cast them in their next film. With the exception of Lee Daniels’s ‘Precious,’ urban films that get distribution don’t usually make blockbusters numbers at the box office, but they do receive position reviews, which leads to respect within the industry. From Fruitvale Station, Middle of Nowhere, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Twenty Feet From Stardom, Mother of George, Dear White People, and last year’s Dope, getting into the festival is not an easy feat.
Congrats to those films that will be playing this year and hopefully, the rest of the world, will get a chance to see them, should it be pick up for theatrical release.
Here’s are some of the films that will be playing at the festival this year that are either directed or features Black talent.
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION
“The Birth of a Nation” (Director and screenwriter: Nate Parker)
Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom.
Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Aunjanue Ellis, Colman Domingo, Mark Boone Jr., Jackie Earle Haley, John Carroll Lynch, Penelope Anne Miller, Dwight Henry, Roger Guenveur Smith, Gabrielle Union
Ellis will play Nancy Turner (Nat’s mother). Domingo will play Hark, Nat’s best friend turned first lieutenant in the rebellion, while Union plays his wife, Ester. Hammer will play Samuel Turner, the son of Nat’s first master Benjamin Turner. Parker, who will also write the script and star as Turner, is developing the film through a fellowship with the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. A Norfolk, Virginia native, Nate grew up less than 30 miles from the site of Turner’s unprecedented slave rebellion.
“The Free World” (Director and screenwriter: Jason Lew)
Following his release from a brutal stretch in prison for crimes he didn’t commit, Mo is struggling to adapt to life on the outside. When his world collides with Doris, a mysterious woman with a violent past, he decides to risk his newfound freedom to keep her in his life.
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Elisabeth Moss, Octavia Spencer, Sung Kang, Waleed Zuaiter.
“Southside With You” (Director and screenwriter: Richard Tanne)
The film covers the eventful date in 1989 when a young associate named Barack Obama was trying to woo lawyer Michelle Robinson on a summer afternoon and evening, that took them from the Art Institute of Chicago to a screening of Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” to the site of their first kiss outside of an ice cream parlor.
Cast: Tika Sumpter, Parker Sawyers, Vanessa Bell Calloway.
“As You Are” (Director: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte)
Set in the early 1990s, As You Are unfolds as a series of disparate memories. Prompted by a police investigation, we witness alternating perspectives of pivotal moments in the relationship between three teenage friends: Jack, Mark, and Sarah. Bound by their aversion to the culture around them, Jack and Mark explore the limits of friendship and love until Mark’s judgmental father tears them apart.
Just as Jack and Sarah are adjusting to life without Mark, he gets unexpectedly thrown back into their lives. The two boys struggle to navigate complex emotions that are compounded by the disapproval they feel from all around. Ultimately, tensions rise to a boiling point, and tragedy echoes through their world.
Cast: Owen Campbell as Jack, Charlie Heaton as Mark, and Amandla Stenberg as Sarah, Mary Stuart Masterson and Scott Cohen),
“Morris From America” (Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan)
Morris Gentry (Markees Christmas) is a 13-year-old, overweight, African-American boy who fancies himself the next Notorious B.I.G. He’s entering puberty, self-conscious, and new to living in Heidelberg, Germany, where nobody else looks or acts like him. His single father Curtis (Craig Robertson) is better at relating to Morris as a friend than a father, bonding with his son over their shared love of music. Initially, Morris only interacts with Curtis and Inka (Carla Juri), his kind – if naïve – German language tutor, but when forced to attend summer classes at a youth center, he instantly falls in love. 15-year-old Katrin (Lina Keller) is just the girl for Morris: rebellious, cool as ice, and not as indifferent toward him as the other kids.
As the two begin to develop a slow friendship (albeit one that Morris hopes will be the start of something deeper), Morris drifts further from Curtis, who is having a hard time of his own adjusting to his son’s burgeoning adolescence. In the wake of these changing relationships, Morris risks everything in a journey far outside of his comfort zone toward self-confidence and acceptance in this new, foreign environment.
Directed by Chad Hartigan (Sundance’s 2013 Best of Next Winner THIS IS MARTIN BONNER), the cast includes Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Carla Juri, and Lina Keller
SPOTLIGHT
“Miles Ahead” (Director: Don Cheadle)
Inspired by events in Miles Davis’s life, this is a wildly entertaining, impressionistic, no-holds-barred portrait of one of twentieth-century music’s creative geniuses. Holed up in his Manhattan apartment, wracked with pain from a
variety of ailments, sweating for the next check from his record company, and dodging sycophants and industry executives, Davis is haunted by memories of old glories, humiliations, and of his years with Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi), his great love. He also conspires with Rolling Stone writer Dave Brill (Ewan McGregor) to steal back his music.
Written by Steven Baigelman and Cheadle, Miles Ahead also stars Michael Stuhlbarg as music exec Harper, and Keith Stanfield as Junior, an edgy but impressionable trumpet player involved in the theft.
PREMIERES
“Mr. Pig” (Director: Diego Luna)
Eubanks (Danny Glover), an old-school pig farmer from Georgia on the brink of losing his family farm, sets off on a road trip with Howard, his beloved and very large pig. As they make their way across the border to Mexico to find “Howie” a new home, Eubanks’ drinking and deteriorating health begin to take a toll, derailing their plans. His estranged daughter, Eunice (Maya Rudolph), is forced to join them on their adventure. Driven by strong convictions and stubbornness in his old ways, Eubanks attempts to make peace through his devotion to Howie and desire to mend his broken relationships.
Written by Augusto Mendoza & Diego Luna, the cast include Danny Glover, Maya Rudolph, José María Yazpik, Joel Murray, Angélica Aragón, and Gabriela Araujo
DOC PREMIERES
“Maya Angelou And Still I Rise” (Director: Bob Hercules & Rita Coburn Whack)
Distinctly referred to as “a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture,” icon Maya Angelou gives people the freedom to think about their history in a way they never had before. Dr. Angelou’s was a prolific life; as a singer, dancer, activist, poet, and writer she inspired generations with lyrical modern African American thought that pushed boundaries.
Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack’s unprecedented film celebrates Dr. Maya Angelou by weaving her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining civil rights moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her swinging soirees with Malcolm X in Ghana to her inaugural speech for President Bill Clinton, we are given special access to interviews with Dr. Angelou whose indelible charm and quick wit make it easy to love her.
“Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall” (Director: Spike Lee)
One morning, a television set broke down in a living room in Gary, Indiana, leaving a large family of children with nothing to do—so they started singing. Soon the family was singing at talent shows and winning trophies. Their first four recorded songs would top the charts, and launch the career of one of the greatest entertainers the world has ever known.
Director Spike Lee assembles a wealth of archival footage, interviews with contemporary talents and family members, and Michael’s own words and image to create this insightful chronicle of the star’s early rise to fame. An in-depth look at a chapter of his career that is rarely examined, Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall allows audiences to travel with Michael as he gets his start at Motown, strikes a new path with CBS records, and forges a relationship with legendary producer Quincy Jones.
“Kiki” (Director: Sara Jordenö)
25 years after Paris is Burning, we dive back into the fierce world of voguing battles in the Kiki scene of New York City, where competition between Houses demands leadership, painstaking practice, and performances on point. A film collaboration between Kiki gatekeeper, Twiggy Pucci Garçon, and Swedish filmmaker Sara Jordenö, we’re granted exclusive access into this high stakes world, where tough competitions act as a gateway into the daily lives of LGBTQ youth of color in NYC. The new generation of ballroom youth use the motto, “Not About us Without Us.” Twiggy and Sara’s insider-outsider approach to their stories breathes fresh life into the representation of a marginalized community who demand visibility and real political power.
“Life, Animated” (Director: Roger Ross Williams)
At three years old, a chatty, energetic little boy named Owen Suskind ceased to speak, disappearing into autism with apparently no way out. Almost four years passed and the only stimuli that engaged Owen were Disney films. Then one day, his father donned a puppet—Iago, the wisecracking parrot from Aladdin—and asked “what’s it like to be you?” And poof! Owen replied, with dialogue from the movie.
Life, Animated tells the remarkable story of how Owen found in Disney animation a pathway to language and a framework for making sense of the world. By evocatively interweaving classic Disney sequences with verite scenes from Owen’s life, the film explores how identification and empathy with characters like Simba, Jafar, and Ariel forge a conduit for him to understand his feelings and interpret reality.
Roger Ross Williams is the director of God Loves Uganda, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim, and Music by Prudence, which won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). His latest film, Life, Animated, is based on a book by Pulitzer Prize‒winning journalist Ron Suskind. Williams was the first African American to win an Academy Award for directing or producing a film (short or feature)
“Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” (Director: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady)
Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Using comedy and indelible characters, his legendary 1970s shows such as All In the Family, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, boldly cracked open dialogue and shifted the national consciousness, injecting enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, creed, and feminism.
Featured in the film are Russell Simmons, Alan Horn, John Amos, Bill Moyers, George Clooney
“Trapped” (Director: Dawn Porter)
U.S. abortion clinics are fighting to survive. Since 2010, hundreds of laws regulating abortion clinics have been passed by conservative state legislatures, particularly in the south. These restrictions, known as TRAP laws (or Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers) are spreading across America.
Faced with increased costs of compliance and the alarming fear of violence from protestors, the stakes for the women and men on the frontlines couldn’t be any higher. As the battle heads to the U.S. Supreme Court, TRAPPED follows the struggles of the clinic workers and lawyers fighting to keep abortion safe and legal for millions of American women, many of them poor and uninsured.
Directed by Porter, Dr. Willie Parker, Amy Hagstrom Miller, Marva Sadler, Nancy Northup, June Ayers, Dalton Johnson, and Gloria Gray are featured in the film.
In 2013, Porter’s Gideon’s Army” had played at Sundance and won the U.S. Documentary Editing Award.
“Resilience” (Director: James Redford)
Imagine the implications if the causes of medical conditions such as heart disease could be linked to adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACEs. That very connection is carefully explored in Resilience, which sheds light on the repercussions of early life traumas. New research shows how the previously unconnectedlinks are evident in the health outcomes of adults.
NEXT
“How to Tell You’re A Douchebag” (Director and screenwriter: Tahir Jetter)
Ray Livingston (Charles Brice) is a relationship-blogging hack (“freelance writer, actually”) responsible for Brooklyn’s infamous blog, “Occasionally Dating Black Women.” The well-written, if not controversial, blog has generated some notoriety, but Ray is chafing from an overextended stay in New York, romantic ennui, and a stagnating writing career. After a particularly crappy week, he goes off on a tirade and harasses a gorgeous random passerby, only to discover that it’s Rochelle Marseille (DeWanda Wise), one of New York’s up-and-coming authors. Moving to make amends in an effort to preserve his media clout, Ray is stunned when Rochelle gives him more than he ever thought she would.
Cast: Charles Brice, DeWanda Wise, William Jackson Harper, Alexander Mulzac, Jenna Williams, Tonye Patano
“The Fits” (Director: Anna Rose Holmer)
Tomboy boxer Toni (newcomer Royalty Hightower) lands a spot on an after school dance team in the West End community of Cincinnati. Enamored by the power and confidence of the team, Toni eagerly absorbs routines, masters drills, and even pierces her own ears to fit in. As she discovers the joys of dance and of female camaraderie, she grapples with her individual identity amid her newly defined social sphere.
Shortly after Toni joins the team, the captain faints during practice. By the end of the week, most of the girls on the team suffer from episodes of fainting, swooning, moaning, and shaking in a seemingly uncontrollable catharsis. Triggered by her own insecurities, Toni questions the cause of “the fits.” Soon, however, the girls on the team embrace these mystical spasms, transforming them into a rite of passage. Toni fears experiencing the fits, but also fears losing her new friendships as a result of remaining left out of the transcendental experience. She has to decide how far she needs to go to maintain her niche on the team.
Written by Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis, the cast includes Royalty Hightower, Makyla Burnam, Inayah Rodgers
Jacqueline (Argentine) (Director and screenwriter: Bernardo Britto)
A filmmaker (Wyatt Cenac, “The Daily Show”) receives a series of panicked emails and phone calls from a young French woman — Jacqueline Dumont (Camille Rutherford, HOLY MOTORS). She implores him to travel to Argentina to document her self-imposed political exile after she supposedly leaks highly confidential government secrets detailing a planned assassination. Jacqueline expects a severe fallout and wants the filmmaker there recording everything in case anything happens to her. But as soon as the filmmaker and his two interns arrive at Jacqueline’s Argentine safe haven — a remote holistic center — they begin to think she might just be more interested in singing Britney Spears songs and hanging out with her new friend than helping the filmmakers unearth a huge government conspiracy. Nevertheless, they soldier on, desperately hoping they will somehow end up with a some semblance of a worthwhile film. And maybe — just maybe — find a kernel of truth in Jacqueline’s paranoid ramblings.
Jacqueline (Argentine) will be preceded by a screening of Britto’s Animated Short “Glove,” also at Sundance 2016; Britto (2014 Sundance Jury Prize winner for the short film “Yearbook”) is the first filmmaker to have both an animated short and a feature-length film in the festival at the same time!
“The Land” (Director and screenwriter: Steven Caple Jr.)
Four teenage boys devote their summer to escaping the streets of Cleveland, Ohio, by pursuing a dream life of professional skateboarding. But when they get caught in the web of the local queenpin, their motley brotherhood is tested, threatening to make this summer their last.
Cast: Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Moises Arias, Rafi Gavron, Ezri Walker, Erykah Badu, Michael K. Williams
“Sleight” (Director: J.D. Dillard, Screenwriters: J.D. Dillard, Alex Theurer)
When Bo, a handsome and gifted high school student, suddenly becomes the sole caretaker for his little sister, Tina, he foregoes college to dedicate his talents to the craft of magic. He wows audiences as a street magician but still has to make ends meet, so he cleverly uses his skills to peddle drugs for the local dealer, Angelo. However when Bo falls for Holly, an adorable teenager in need of support, he decides to get out of the drug business, causing Angelo to threaten his family. Bo must now rely on his sleight of hand and brilliant mind to save the day.
Cast: Jacob Latimore, Dule Hill, Seychelle Gabriel, Storm Reid, Sasheer Zamata, Cameron Esposito.
SPECIAL EVENTS
“The United Shades Of America” (Executive Producers: W. Kamau Bell, Jimmy Show, Star Price, Ethan Berlin)
CNN’s newest original series follows political comedian W. Kamau Bell as he explores America’s racial stereotypes and lifestyles. Kamau asks questions and gets himself into some awkward and, at times, unpredictable situations, while making people laugh along the way.
The Festival is screening an episode in which he travels to Harrison, Arkansas, a charming southern town that happens to have a thriving chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. While Harrison’s leaders want to promote their home as inclusive and tolerant, the KKK are determined to use new PR tactics to keep all minorities out. Kamau questions whether this “new KKK” is really anything different.
“O.J.: Made in America” (Director: Ezra Edelman)
The producers of ESPN’s 30 for 30, along with award-winning director Ezra Edelman, tell the story of one of the most polarizing people in American history, O.J. Simpson. They explore how Simpson’s rise and fall was centered around two of America’s greatest fixations—race and celebrity.
The film deftly reveals how Orenthal James Simpson first became a football star,why America fell in love with him off the field, what happened in the trial for his ex-wife’s murder and his subsequent acquittal, and finally, why he is now sitting in jail for another crime 20 years later. His is a story that divided America like few things before or since, and it is perhaps the defining cultural tale of twentieth-century America. The film parallels his incredible story with that of race in America, astutely examining the tragic way that they intertwined.
The Festival debuts the complete seven-and-a-half-hour miniseries in two parts on the same day, with a lunch break, and followed by a conversation and Q&A with the filmmakers.
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