Writer-director Mariama Diallo’s storytelling deliberately focuses on the lived experience of microaggressions and inequality using history and social reality to reiterate how racism exists and operates at the core of its institutions. “It’s not ghosts, it’s not supernatural, it’s America. And it’s everywhere.”
While the film isn’t told from multiple points of view, it is framed in a way that allows the viewer to tap into everyone’s grief and perspective. All points are valid but also in conflict with one another.
Set in two contrasting locations — a comedy club and an Oregon trail — “You Go Girl!” tells the story of a woman on a quest to overcome her physical and emotional struggles.
The beauty in “God’s Country” juxtaposed against the ugliness of the antagonists is poetic and symbolic of the world we live in today; and silence, which is used as a powerful and nuanced communicative tool in the film, creates a pivotal space for this connection.
At the heart of “Nanny” is a story about womanhood and parenthood all of which invite introspection from marginalized characters in the lives of women with more money, resources and access.
Rebecca Hall’s adaptation of “Passing” displays a stylistic sophistication and maintains a heightened emotional consistence that leaves the viewer breathless and yearning for more.
“I Would Never” was shot in a single location and is conveyed from the subjective narrative of a woman who has a romantic encounter that starts out warmly and ends up with distrust.
The film, told in Swahili with English subtitles, does well balancing a love and political period drama with a relevant narrative and an elegant aesthetic that portrays Zanzibar as its own main character.
Nana Mensah’s feature directorial debut is a proverbial pilgrimage to self-discovery told through the lens of a girl-interrupted.
The film, which presents itself as an updated romantic-comedy (an ode to Gen-Z), is unpretentious in its perceptive and entertaining delivery. Mark, Mary and Some Other People, invites the viewer in to observe two opposing sides of a polyamory tale.
Inspired by director Aisha Ford’s personal childhood experiences, Cherry Lemonade serves as a cautionary tale that intends to teach tough life lessons about the unknown dangers that lurk beyond our immediate realities, and the awareness and strength required to hold one’s own.
Told in three periods – the present, past, and future— the film manages to balance authenticity and newness with real rituals, vivid imagery, rich history, and dignified early African traditions that proudly reflect life pre-colonization.
Jerrod Carmichael’s delivery of deadpan drama is notable and so is his commitment to his character, Valentino Watson. Christopher Abbott is brilliant, and brings an endearing quality to his role as Kevin.
