The American Black Film Festival began yesterday evening with the showing of Beasts of the Southern Wild. Tonight at the Colony Theater will be HBO’s Short Film Competition, with Better Mus’ Come and Raising Izzie completing the primetime films for the festival. Many more films are being screened, along with several other events, including a daily black movie trivia completion at the Ritz Carlton. Here, we’ll introduce you three evening feature films, with synopses and trailers:
Beasts of the Southern Wild
By the way, check out IndieWire’s Shadow and Act for their great coverage of Beasts of the Southern Wild: exclusive picks, a behind the scenes featurette, and a great review of last night’s showing.
Faced with her father’s fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother.
Better Mus’ Come
http://vimeo.com/12207669
Three years in the making, Better Mus’ Come brilliantly captures the deep rooted conflict at the heart of Jamaican politics as seen in violent images in news reports and recent explosive political headlines all over the world in the international manhunt for alleged Jamaican “Don”, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, leaving 76 civilians dead and a government-mandated State of Emergency in its aftermath. In a timely and provocative production, Better Mus’ Come traces the origins of the use of street gangs by political parties in their violent struggle to win the national election.
Raising Izzie (a clip, not a trailer)
http://vimeo.com/44341380
When their mother passes away leaving them without an adult guardian, sisters Izzie and Gertie Nash are forced to grow up fast. Afraid they’ll be separated if they enter the foster care system, older sister Gertie takes care of her little sister in addition to working and attending school. For a year, the girls are able to hide their predicament from their neighbors, their landlord and even their teachers. But when Tonya Freeman, Gertie’s new teacher, becomes suspicious, the girls have to come up with a new plan to protect their secret.
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