Special Events include the world premiere of “Amazing Grace,” queen of soul Aretha Franklin‘s two days of gospel performances at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, recording what would become her bestselling album, Amazing Grace.  Also of note is Closing Night Film, the world premiere of HBO’s “Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” about the beloved New York City journalists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill, and the festival’s Centerpiece presentation, the world premiere of “Original Cast Album: Co-op,” an episode in the upcoming season of IFC’s Documentary Now! series inspired by D.A. Pennebaker’s “Original Cast Album: Company,” followed by a conversation with creators Seth Meyers and Rhys Thomas, director Alex Buono, writer and star John Mulaney, and star Renee Elise Goldsberry.

In the festival’s two feature competition sections, nine films appear under the Viewfinders section for distinct directorial visions, including the world premieres of “Cooked: Survival by Zip Code,” a radical reframing of natural disasters and their link to poverty, “Out of Omaha,” a coming-of-age story executive produced by musician J. Cole, and “The Smartest Kids in the World,” an exploration of the shortcomings of the U.S. education system.

And in the Metropolis competition section, seven films are dedicated to stories set in New York City, including the world premiere of “Decade of Fire,” on the notorious series of fires that devastated the Bronx in the 1970s.

For this year’s Short List section of awards season frontrunners, filmmakers presenting their work in person at the festival include Rashida Jones and Alan Hicks for “Quincy”, Wim Wenders for “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word”, Morgan Neville for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg for “Reversing Roe”, RaMell Ross’ “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” and Stephen Maing’s “Crime + Punishment” among other highly notables.

Notable documentarians will also be honored at the Visionaries Tribute Awards event on Nov. 8: Wim Wenders and Orlando Bagwell will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards while Tabitha Jackson, director of the Documentary Film Program at Sundance Institute, will receive the Leading Light Award for distinguished service to documentary in a role outside filmmaking.

Bagwell’s directing credits include “Citizen King,” “A Hymn for Alvin Ailey,” “Malcolm X: Make It Plain,” and two episodes in the landmark Eyes on the Prize series. Serving as a program officer at the Ford Foundation for nearly a decade, Bagwell established the $50 million JustFilms fund. He is currently finishing a documentary on Gil Scott-Heron.

There’s a lot to see and experience at the festival, so check out these Bold as Love selects for arts-centerd and Black-themed films you can and should enjoy:

TEDDY PENDERGRASS: IF YOU DON’T KNOW ME

Fri Nov 9, 2018, 9:00 PM | SVA Theatre
Director: Olivia Lichtenstein
(NYC PREMIERE)

The unforgettable voice behind “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” “Close the Door” and “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” Teddy Pendergrass was poised to be the biggest R&B artist of all time with five consecutive platinum albums. But his career was halted by a 1982 car accident that left him paralyzed at age 31. This definitive biography, set to a soulful soundtrack, captures revealing interviews with his closest associates to trace his rise, fall and post-accident comeback at Live Aid.

Stay tuned for a full review of this very telling and emotional film.

AMAZING GRACE

Mon Nov 12, 2018, 6:45 PM | SVA Theatre
Mon Nov 12, 2018, 9:00 PM | SVA Theatre
director: Sydney Pollack; producer: Alan Elliott
(WORLD PREMIERE)

In January 1972, Aretha Franklin gave two days of gospel performances at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, recording what would become her bestselling album, Amazing Grace. The sessions were captured by a film crew led by Sydney Pollack, but the footage wound up shelved in a vault and has remained one of the lost cinematic treasures of twentieth-century music. Before Pollack’s death in 2008, he expressed a wish for the film to be completed, and producer Alan Elliott took it up with a team of supporters as a passion project.

To paraphrase the title song: what once was lost, now is found.

Amazing Grace lets the events unfold on film without imposing present-day interviews. It fits in the tradition of other concert documentaries of the era, such as Monterey Pop and Woodstock, yet it stands out for its focus on African-American music (preceding Wattstax, filmed later that year).

“Amazing Grace has been a lost treasure of documentary filmmaking for over four decades. I can’t think of a bigger honor for a festival than to premiere this film,” said DOC NYC artistic director Thom Powers.

FIRE ON THE HILL: THE COWBOYS OF SOUTH CENTRAL

Fri Nov 9, 2018, 7:45 PM | Cinepolis Chelsea
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 12:30 PM | IFC Center
Director: Brett Fallentine
(NYC PREMIERE)

Against the backdrop of the mean streets of Compton, California, urban cowboys find joy and purpose among the horses of the Hill, the last public stable in South Central LA. Brett Fallentine follows three Black cowboys: Ghuan, who fights to rebuild the Hill after a mysterious fire and to preserve its unique culture; Calvin, as he struggles to balance family responsibilities and the cowboy lifestyle; and Calvin, on a quest to become a bull-riding rodeo champion.

DECADE OF FIRE

Sat Nov 10, 2018, 4:15 PM | SVA Theatre
Directors: Vivian Vazquez, Gretchen Hildebran
(WORLD PREMIERE)

In the 1970s, the Bronx was on fire. Left unprotected by the city government, nearly a half-million people were displaced as their close-knit, multiethnic neighborhood burned, reducing the community to rubble. While insidious government policies caused the devastation, Black and Latino residents bore the blame. In this story of hope and resistance, Bronx native Vivian Vazquez exposes the truth about the borough’s sordid history and reveals how her embattled and maligned community chose to resist, remain and rebuild.

OUT OF OMAHA

Sat Nov 10, 2018, 7:00 PM | SVA Theatre
Director: Clay Tweel; executive producer J. Cole
(WORLD PREMIERE) 

Director Clay Tweel (“Gleason”) returns to DOC NYC with a film eight years in the making about two young African American twin brothers. Darcell and Darrell Trotter are coming of age in the racially and economically divided town of Omaha, Nebraska. Their journey to adulthood illustrates how hope survives in the face of poverty, violence and sacrifice. Musician J. Cole serves as the film’s executive producer.

ZION

Sun Nov 11, 2018, 10:00 AM | SVA Theatre
Director: Floyd Russ
Section: Short List: Shorts

Born without legs and growing up in the foster care system, Zion Clark moved from one home to another as he grew up. Floyd Russ’ inspiring portrait reveals how his discovery of wrestling in the second grade provided not only a therapeutic outlet, but a sense of family. Courtesy of Netflix.

RUDEBOY: THE STORY OF TROJAN RECORDS

Wed Nov 14, 2018, 9:15 PM | SVA Theatre
Director: Nicolas Jack Davies
(US PREMIERE)

During the late 1960s and early 70s, London’s Trojan Records label became one of the most influential record companies in history. By tapping into Jamaican migration to England, the label became a force in spreading ska, rocksteady and reggae. Rich interviews with colorful characters reveal the stories behind beloved songs such as “Rudy, A Message to You,” “The Israelites” and “You Can Get if You Really Want.” The film celebrates how immigration and innovation transformed popular culture.

16 BARS

Thu Nov 15, 2018, 9:45 PM | IFC Center
Thu Nov 15, 2018, 10:15 PM | IFC Center
Director: Samuel Bathrick
(NYC PREMIERE) 

Grammy-winning hip hop artist Todd Thomas—better known as “Speech” of the iconic group Arrested Development—leads a unique collaborative music workshop in the Richmond City Jail in Virginia. Striving to overcome their demons, four past and present inmates work side-by-side with Speech to transform their experiences, hopes and fears into songs. Exploring cycles of addiction and incarceration through the power of music and storytelling, the inspiring 16 Bars offers a window into rehabilitation.

You should also definitely check out:

SHORT LIST – SHORTS ’63 BOYCOTT + EARTHRISE

Fri Nov 9, 2018, 12:45 PM | IFC Center

This program presents two films appearing in the Short List: Shorts section recognizing some of the top documentary shorts films of the year.

’63 BOYCOTT
Director: Gordon Quinn
In 1963, more than 250,000 students boycotted Chicago’s public schools to protest racial segregation. Combining period footage with reflections from participants, ‘63 Boycott links the past with present-day concerns around inequality in the education system. Courtesy of Kartemquin. (USA, 31 min.)

EARTHRISE
Director: Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
In 1968, the first image of the Earth was captured from space, an iconic photograph that had an immediate and transformative impact around the globe. Earthrise explores the memories of the Apollo 8 astronauts responsible for the image, and their experience of awe in viewing the Earth framed against the void of space. Courtesy of New York Times Op-Docs/POV. (USA, 29 min.)

THE BLESSING

Fri Nov 9, 2018, 7:15 PM | IFC Center
Director: Hunter Robert Baker, Jordan Fein
(NYC PREMIERE) 

Deep in the Navajo Nation, one family struggles to honor their ancestry while embracing the future. Lawrence, a single father, is employed by Peabody Energy, a company tearing apart his sacred homeland for coal. As he contends with the contradictions between his work and his heritage, his secretive teenage daughter, Caitlin, finds herself going against tradition to discover her own identity. With unparalleled access to reservation life and the palpable trust of their onscreen subjects, filmmakers Hunter Robert Baker and Jordan Fein craft a poetic and deeply moving family portrait.

INSTANT DREAMS

Sat Nov 10, 2018, 11:30 AM | IFC Center
Director: Willem Baptist
(NYC PREMIERE)

After the Polaroid company stops production, three enthusiasts are determined to keep alive the magical wonder and technology of instant cameras.

WORLDS OF URSULA K. LE GUIN

Sat Nov 10, 2018, 11:45 AM | SVA Theatre
Director: Arwen Curry
(NYC PREMIERE)

Ursula K. Le Guin: world builder, feminist and fantasy author. Despite her early marginalization, Le Guin’s work challenged the male-dominated industry of literature, and demanded consideration of complex topics such as gender and identity, decades before these issues became contemporary talking points. Following Le Guin’s death this past January, Arwen Curry’s intimate portrait—featuring interviews with authors and Le Guin admirers Neil Gaiman and David Mitchell—is a moving tribute to a prescient female warrior and an homage to our shared love of storytelling.

IT MUST SCHWING! THE BLUE NOTE STORY

Sat Nov 10, 2018, 4:00 PM | SVA Theatre
Director: Eric Friedler; executive producer Wim Wenders
(NYC PREMIERE)

Executive produced by Wim Wenders and featuring haunting animation and a swinging soundtrack, this film tells the story of the legendary Blue Note Records label. Founded in 1939 by two young German refugees from Berlin with a passion for American jazz music, Blue Note recorded live in New York City at a time when African Americans faced blatant discrimination and segregation, supporting musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk and Quincy Jones.

COOKED: SURVIVAL BY ZIP CODE

Sun Nov 11, 2018, 1:30 PM | SVA Theatre
Wed Nov 14, 2018, 2:45 PM | IFC Center
Director: Judith A. Helfand
(WORLD PREMIERE)

In July 1995, Chicago was hit by a record heat wave that claimed the lives of 739 residents, primarily among the elderly, African Americans and those living in poverty. Using this tragedy as a jumping-off point, but referencing other extreme weather catastrophes like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, Cooked provocatively reframes the politics of disaster to encompass extreme inequity, arguing that economically disadvantaged communities should be preventatively treated as disasters taking place in slow motion.

WHILE I BREATHE, I HOPE

Sun Nov 11, 2018, 4:15 PM | IFC Center
Director: Emily Harrold
(NYC PREMIERE)

When he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2005, Bakari Sellers became the youngest African-American elected official in US history. In While I Breathe, I Hope, the charismatic Democrat sets his sights on becoming the state’s lieutenant governor, a role not held by an African American since 1876. Emily Harrold offers an eye-opening look at the legacy of racism in American politics as she follows Sellers through his campaign and beyond, including the tragic shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel AME church. Executive produced by Charlamagne Tha God, Jedd Canty, and Karen Kinney

OWNED: A TALE OF TWO AMERICAS

Mon Nov 12, 2018, 7:30 PM | Cinepolis Chelsea
Director: Giorgio Angelini
(NYC PREMIERE)

After World War II, US housing policy sought to create middle-class wealth through homeownership—but these benefits were largely intended for whites only. Today, we see the results: practices including redlining, predatory lending and unchecked speculation have Americans—of all races—shut out from the dream or drowning in real-estate debt. Moving from Levittown to Orange County to Baltimore, this timely film exposes the greed, flawed economic policy and systemic racism that distorted “the American dream” into a game only few can win.

THE RESCUE LIST

Mon Nov 12, 2018, 5:15 PM | IFC Center
Tue Nov 13, 2018, 12:45 PM | IFC Center
Director: Alyssa Fedele, Zachary Fink
Executive Producer: Steve James
(NYC PREMIERE)

Surrounding Ghana’s Lake Volta — the largest man-made lake on Earth — is an active child-slavery industry. Sold by desperate families and abused by fishing masters, some 20,000 children work in perilous conditions. Activists like Stephen Kwame Addo, who escaped from such a fate himself, work to rescue as many children as possible and rehabilitate them before attempting to reunite them with their families. This ultimately hopeful film intimately documents the experiences of three boys as they make the transition back to normal life after their harrowing ordeal.

Preceded by

MAMA
Gertrude has dedicated her life to delivering children in her rural Ugandan village.

A HYMN FOR ALVIN AILEY (1999)

Tue Nov 13, 2018, 12:30 PM | IFC Center
Director: Orlando Bagwell

Made for PBS’s Great Performances series, Orlando Bagwell’s Emmy Award-winning film is an homage to Alvin Ailey, the pioneering African-American choreographer and founder of New York City’s renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Following Ailey’s death, the Theater’s artistic director, Judith Jamison, choreographed “Hymn,” a celebration of his influence featuring Anna Deavere Smith. Bagwell uses this piece as a departure point for a broader look at Ailey, his work and its legacy. Featuring archival interviews with Ailey and his collaborators and striking performance footage, A Hymn for Alvin Ailey serves as a welcome introduction to Ailey’s work for newcomers and a fitting reminder of his artistry for those already familiar with his work. (USA, 60 min.)

EMANUEL

Wed Nov 14, 2018, 5:00 PM | IFC Center
Thu Nov 15, 2018, 10:30 AM | IFC Center
Director: Brian Ivie
(NYC PREMIERE)

On June 17, 2015, national headlines blazed the story: Churchgoers gunned down during prayer service in Charleston, South Carolina. After a 21-year-old white supremacist opened fire in Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, nine African Americans lay dead, leaving their families and the nation to grapple with this senseless act of terror. Featuring intimate interviews with survivors and family members, Emanuel is a poignant story of justice and faith, love and hate, examining the healing power of forgiveness.

LAST STOP CONEY ISLAND: THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHY OF HAROLD FEINSTEIN

Wed Nov 14, 2018, 7:30 PM | Cinepolis Chelsea
Thu Nov 15, 2018, 9:45 PM | Cinepolis Chelsea
Director: Andy Dunn
(WORLD PREMIERE)

Photographer Harold Feinstein captured the beauty, joy and diversity of New Yorkers over seven decades.

Advance tickets for DOC NYC are available online at docnyc.net or in-person at the IFC Center box office, 323 Sixth Ave. (at West 3rd St., open daily 10:30am-10:00pm) right now. During the festival, tickets for all screenings are available at any festival venue box office during operating hours.

Resuming the series this past May with the acclaimed documentary Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed on Bed-Stuy congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and the storied documentary Black Theatre on how the civil rights movement of the 1950’s-70’s led to the modern theatre scene, this Thursday, June 21 brings a hotly anticipated documentary to Bed-Stuy audiences.

In Whose Streets? racism and activism are explored through the Ferguson uprising that followed Black teen Mike Brown’s murder by local St. Louis, Missouri police.  Grief, long-standing racial tensions and renewed anger bring residents empowered residents, as well as parents, artists, and teachers from around the country, to come together as freedom fighters. As the National Guard descends on Ferguson with military grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance. Whose Streets? is directed by Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis.

This screening of “Whose Streets?” serves as a sneak preview before its July 30th premiere date on POV, the award-winning independent non-fiction film series on PBS.

With a mission to fight disempowering narratives of the Black community, The Luminal Theater presents films that are as various as the Black community is – a true diaspora that is in no way monolithic in appearance, sensibilities, or storytelling styles.  And of course, their films are also entertaining.

The First Quincy Street Community Garden hosts this Cinema Garden Party screening of “Whose Streets.” Seating begins at 7:30pm for a sundown start.  Information regarding the Cinema Garden Party films can be found on The Luminal Theater website at LuminalTheater.org

The Cinema Garden Party is sponsored, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), and the Citizens Committee for New York City Neighborhood Grant.   The Luminal Theater is a sponsored organization of the New York Foundation for the Arts. NYFA is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization founded in 1971 to work with the arts community throughout New York State and the United States to develop and facilitate programs in all disciplines.​

Related Links

• Luminal Theater calendar
• Whose Streets? website

Now on its 10^th year, The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s BAMcinemaFest 2018 features a slew of outstanding films, as per usual.  From contemporary documentary’s exploring undiscovered pockets of life, to fresh narrative perspectives, to experimental fare that uncovers to natural turns of our lives – in between all of that, is a free screening of a film classic.

Our picks this year, with an obvious leaning toward Black thought and imagination, include forward thinking director Quasim Basir’s hallucinatory take on Election Night 2016, the New York premiere of musician-turned-filmmaker Boots Riley’s wacky Sorry to Bother You, starring ‘everywhereman’ Lakeith Stanfield (“Atlanta”)and the always transformative Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok), and a focus on the NYPD 12, a band of minority officers who speak out against the continued use of arrest and summons quotas—an officially illegally practice that overwhelmingly targets young black and Hispanic men, whose first screening is already sold-out.

Also featured is the Regina Hall (Girls Trip, Scary Movie) starring Support the Girls. Hall will be present for a post-film Q&A.

Also, you cannot miss the June 30^th short film lineup featuring new works from Stefani Saintonge (Seventh Grade – 2014), actor-turned-filmmaker Adepero Oduye (Pariah, 12 Years a Slave), and Mariama Diallo’s highly-anticipated Hair Wolf.

BAMcinemaFest runs from June 20th to July 1st at BAM Rose Cinemas and the BAM Harvey Theater in Brooklyn, unless otherwise noted. See our highlights below and click THIS link for the entire lineup.

Sorry to Bother You

*Opening Night Film*

Wedns, June 20 at 7:30pm

Struggling to make ends meet in Oakland, CA, Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) lands a job as a RegalView telemarketer. Realizing perfecting his “white voice” is the key to his monetary success, Green soon discovers it’s not without considerable consequences. Also starring Armie Hammer as RegalView’s callous CEO and a beguiling Tessa Thompson as Green’s activist-artist love interest.  Also co-starring Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead).

Introduction by Boots Riley

Tickets: $30, $25 (BAM members)

Support the Girls

Fri, June 22 at 7pm

A magnificent Regina Hall is the fiercely devoted manager of Double Whammies, a Hooters-like Houston sports bar in Andrew Bujalski’s funny portrait of women banding together to get it done.

Q&A with filmmaker Andrew Bujalski, Regina Hall, and Shayna McHayle

Tickets: $20, $15 (BAM members)

A Boy. A Girl. A Dream

Fri, June 22 at 9:30pm

Shot in one seemingly continuous, hallucinatory take, this tale of two strangers who come together on election night 2016 takes viewers on a profound emotional journey.

Q&A with filmmaker Qasim Basir

Tickets: $20, $15 (BAM members)

Polly: Recent Films and Collaborations by Kevin Jerome Everson

Sun, June 24 at 4:15pm

Journeying from 16th-century Florence to the 2017 solar eclipse, the latest works from the restlessly inventive experimentalist blend past and present to illuminate hidden fragments of black life and history.

Q&A with filmmakers Kevin Jerome Everson & Claudrena N. Harold

Tickets: $20, $15 (BAM members)

outdoor screening: Eve’s Bayou

Thurs, June 28^th

Directed by Kasi Lemmons | 1997

With Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfied, Meagan Good

This richly atmospheric saga of sex, lies, and voodoo is one of the most distinctive films of the 1990s, charting the tumultuous coming of age of a young girl (Smollett-Bell) whose idyllic view of her wealthy Louisiana family is shattered when she catches her father (Jackson) in an act of infidelity. Steeped in Creole folklore, magic, and mysticism, Eve’s Bayou is a scintillating showcase for a powerhouse ensemble of black actresses.

Film begins at sundown.  Co-presented by Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy

FREE

Narrative Shorts Program

Sat, Jun 30 at 2pm

From a black hair horror comedy to a trance-inducing pas de deux, women filmmakers explore race, identity, gender, and relationships in these bold, stylistically daring short works.

Films by Stefani Saintonge (Fucked Like a Star), Adepero Oduye (To Be Free), and Mariama Diallo (Hair Wolf)

Q&A with filmmakers

Tickets: $20, $15 (BAM members)

encore of Crime + Punishment

Sun, July 1 at 2pm

A galvanizing documentary chronicling 12 New York Police Department minority officers who risk everything, speaking out against the continued use of quotas that unfairly target young black and Hispanic men. With unprecedented fly-on-the-wall access, the film exposes racism, corruption, and intimidation within the NYPD.

Q&A with Stephen Maing and film subjects

Tickets: $20, $15 (BAM members)

In Lamothe’s screenplay, a critically acclaimed Haitian-American writer who suffers from a rare sleep disorder, takes his first ever trip to Haiti in search of his childhood best friend.  The live table read cast includes a number of notable New York-based actors, including S. Epatha Merkserson, Jamie Hector, Dorian Missick, Pascale Armand, Hisham Tawfiq, Natalie Paul, Jerry LaMothe and Michael Chenevert.

Lamothe’s previous films include his breakout indie hit “Amour Infinity,” “Nora’s Hair Salon” starring Jenifer Lewis,  “BlacKout” with Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Saldana, and Michael B. Jordan and the short film “The Tombs.” He has also directed episodes of Bounce TV’s “Saints and Sinners.”

The Media Summit itself is an opportunity for New Yorkers and area residents to connect with entertainment industry professionals and engage with thought leaders during a free day of programs co-produced by MOME and Harlem-based cultural and media organizations. The day-long Media Summit will feature industry talks with the likes of Warrington Hudlin, Jamal Jospeh, Angela Yee, Nelson George, and Neema Barnette, and includes a resource fair for New Yorkers interested in the media and entertainment industry.

“The Promisekeeper” reading takes place at 2:00pm. More information about the Media Summit can be found here. 

Saturday April 28, 8:30pm; Sunday April 29, 3:00pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

World Premiere

Section: Special Screenings
Family, history, and the legacies that stem from the connected three are key in the development of most every civilization on Earth.  Yet, one could specify that for the African diaspora community, due to chattel slavery – from which there still has not been any true recovery – that family takes on an even more special meaning.  

But that doesn’t mean that family is always your best option.

The whirlwind created in first time feature film director Faraday Okoro’s “Nigerian Prince” is born out of two young men desperate to find their way in the world.  Immature and obstinate, Eze is a first generation Nigerian-American teenager whose mother (Ebbe Bassey, “Ties That Bind”, “Say Grace Before Drowning”) sends him to Nigeria to live with his Aunt against his will under the guise of him learning more about ‘where he came from,’ though the feeling is there is something more.   

His cousin, Pius, is a desperate Nigerian Prince scammer and con artist, living in a constant state of danger.  

In a constant state of culture shock, including the unheard of American notions of no showers or 24-hour electricity, Eze battles his Aunt Grace (the always wonderful Tina Mba) at every turn, even after she tells him to stay away from her wayward son Pius following their shocking initial encounter.  But determined to get enough money for a return ticket back to America, Eze teams up with Pius to scam unsuspecting foreigners.

Yet what Eze is ignorant to (though, he is pretty ignorant to most everything) is the danger that Pius is involved in, leading Eze down a path he may not be able to escape from. Meanwhile Pius, in search of a way out of ‘the game’, though obviously in need of family despite all the good faith he has squandered away, has a definite love for his newly found cousin, but we’re always wondering if that will be enough for him to not sell Eze out.

Multilayered, and working off of numerous influences, “Nigerian Prince” is a film with familiar qualities but has never been seen before. What initially felt like a story about a wayward family, or even a coming-of-age tale, though it is also those, turns out to be more a grifter story.  Pius is much, much more than an online Nigerian Prince scammer – his cons are expertly devised and his fortitude is remarkable, as is the danger he is under. Aware of the psychological play in great con and heist films, Okoro intentionally set out to make the film to be subversive. With that, “Nigerian Prince” takes on the tone of more serious con artist tales, like “Confidence” (2003, James Foley) but with the familial tone coupled with  hazardous circumstances, brings it closer to “The Grifters” (1990, Stephen Frears).

Chinaza Uche also clearly understands the psychological nature of the con game, and plays Pius with equal amounts charm and franticness.  With a growing acting career (you may have also seen him in “Mother of George” (2013, Andrew Dosunmu)) the hope is that now we will also see him in much more. Antonio J. Bell (OWN TV’s “Greenleaf”) plays Eze in full self-indulgent fashion, yet also portrays Eze to possess more complexity than what is on the surface.

The biggest takeaway from “Nigerian Prince” is that is it a more complex film that what the audience is initially presented with.  With edge-of-you-seat danger, including from corrupt Police Chief Smart (Bimbo Manuel), and an at-home feel that puts viewers squarely into an aspect of Nigerian life that western viewers are unused to experiencing, “Nigerian Prince” needs to have a long life in cinemas and beyond.  

Nigerian-American director Faraday Okoro, able to shoot this film with more than the originally intended micro-budget due to his winning the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories program — in partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute, was already due for a bright future in filmmaking, and this first feature will hopefully cement that.  

BaL Festival Rating: 5/5

Director: Faraday Okoro 

Writers: Faraday Okoro & Andrew Long

Genre: Narrative

Country: USA and Nigeria

Runtime: 110 min.

With Antonio J. Bell, Chinaza Uche, Tina Mba, Bimbo Manuel, Toyin Oshinaike, Craig Stott. A DirecTV release.

Produced by Oscar Hernandez, Bose Oshin, Faraday Okoro

Executive Producers: Spike Lee, Sam Pollard, Biyi Bandele

The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 18 – 29 in New York City

Follow Film & TV Editor Curtis Caesar John on Twitter (@MediaManCurt)

Wednesday April 25, 9:15pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

Thursday April 26, 6:30pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

(USA) – World Premiere

Section: Tribeca TV

This documentary has been a long time coming, and from the opening credits to the, yes, soul-stirring opening featuring crooner Al Green, it’s obvious we’re all in for something extra-special.

Yet by film’s end, that will be an understatement.

“Mr. SOUL!” offers an entertaining and essential look at the groundbreaking public television show SOUL!, which, under producer-host Ellis Haizlip’s passionate guidance, showcased the breadth of Black artistry and genius from 1968 to 1973.

Wait? If you’re under the age of 50, you may be telling yourself how it is possible you’ve never heard of SOUL! But if in the past 30 years you’ve paid even half- attention to archival clips of soul music performance and interviews, you’ve gotten a glimpse of this unique New York City produced program that featured both superstar and breakthrough individuals and groups in Black diaspora music, literature, poetry (especially!) politics, and more.

Naturally for the time, and to a sharp degree even now, SOUL! existed out of a need for Black stories to be told, to give these voices a platform that a racist society never would. It became more though, and even became more than ‘appointment television’ – which it also was – it would be a place these artists, and all Americans, could call home.

And from poets and writers like Toni Morrison, Nikki Giovanni and The Last Poets, stage actors like Novella Nelson, dancer Carmen De Lavallade, future superstar musicians like Earth, Wind & Fire, Ashford & Simpson, and Kool & the Gang, to name just a few, SOUL! would be the first time any of them were featured on national television and go onto worldwide and critical acclaim. For superstars like Stevie Wonder, it presented an opportunity to be unrestricted. And the footage we see of all this is amazing.

But “Mr. SOUL!” is also very much about the ‘Mr.’ in the title. Ellis Haizlip’s history is fluidly unfurled in and out of the archival footage showing the genesis of the show. From a conservative Midwest upbringing, to becoming entranced in theatre while visiting his sister at Howard University, to producing James Baldwin’s plays throughout Europe, co-creating, producing, and eventually hosting SOUL! was predestined for Haizlip, who even before the show knew practically everyone in the Black arts circles. That he is unknown by so many of us is devastating. Yet, his neice, the director of “Mr. SOUL!” Melissa Haizlip, in her decade long journey in making this documentary – along with the guiding hand of co-director and filmmaking genius Sam Pollard – has blessed the world with.

It’s a bit unprofessional to tell how emotionally effected you are by watching a particular film, but in this case, it lends to the whole point of the documentary. Haizlip and company set out to show viewers the scope of the African-American and African diaspora experience, and succeeded past probably even their expectations. SOUL! was Black Excellence unbound and unrestricted, broadcast weekly, but felt eternally. For a critic and film professional such as myself, one who has dedicated his life toward doing similar work for the Black experience, “Mr. SOUL!” at multiple points is emotionally overwhelming in its story of this dedicated man and the artists, activists, and intellectuals he featured.

The Al Green song that opens the film is his classic “Tired of Being Alone,” which is how it often feels when one has dedicated themselves to uplifting people with positive and uncompromising works.

The musician Questlove caps off the film with the essential statement: “Imagine if SOUL! had been on for 20 years [instead of five]?” Yes, imagine how different all our lives would be, how America would be. We can only imagine, but we can live our lives with the positive answer.

BaL Festival Rating: 5/5

Directors: Melissa Haizlip and Samuel Pollard

Genre: Documentary

Country: USA

Runtime: 115 min.

The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival runs from April 18 – 29 in New York City

Follow Film & TV Editor Curtis Caesar John on Twitter (@MediaManCurt)

The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 18-29.

With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Since that time, the Festival has evolved into a destination for creativity, reimagining cinematic experiences and exploring how art can unite communities.

Still, with heavy accomplishments and a continual boasting of itself as champions of emerging and established voices and finders of award-winning filmmakers and creators, the Tribeca Film Festival continues to have a dearth of directorial talent from the local and international Black community.  Yes, plenty of Black subjects and experiences are represented, more this year than in some past, but only four Black directors have films in the Festival. Four. And yes, that includes short films.

In a time where Hollywood is aiming heavily to be more diverse with Black and POC at their core, as are other industries, the Tribeca Film Festival falls far behind.

While that remains infuriating, the films below are worth checking out this year.  Ranging from Nigerian expats, fashion iconoclasts, music-based documentaries, fashion innovators, observations on racism and the prison industrial complex, and even skate culture, Black life is on full display.

We will also have reviews of select films, so stay tuned to bold as love in the coming days and weeks for more.

Nigerian Prince

Screenings and Venues:

Tuesday April 24, 7:00pm, Wednesday April 25, 5:00pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

Thursday April 26, 8:00pm, Saturday April 28, 8:30pm, Sunday April 29, 3:00pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

(USA, Nigeria) – World Premiere

Section: Special Screenings (Feature Narrative)

Director Faraday Okoro returns to Tribeca with his first feature film, funded and produced from the AT&T Presents: Untold Stories program — in partnership with the Tribeca Film Institute.  In Nigerian Prince, a troubled American teenager, sent away to his mother’s native Nigeria, finds himself entangled in a dangerous web of scams and corruption with a con-artist cousin as his guide.

Directed by Faraday Okoro, written by Faraday Okoro & Andrew Long. Produced by Oscar Hernandez, Bose Oshin, Faraday Okoro.

With Antonio J. Bell, Chinaza Uche, Tina Mba, Bimbo Manuel, Toyin Oshinaike, Craig Stott. A DirecTV release.

Little Woods

Screenings and Venues:

Saturday April 21, 7:00pm at SVA Theater

Sunday April 22, 4:30pm, Tuesday April 24, 9:00pm, Friday April 27, 3:00pm

at Cinépolis Chelsea

(USA) – World Premiere

Section: U.S. Narrative Competition

In this dramatic thriller set in the fracking boomtown of Little Woods, North Dakota, two estranged sisters are driven to extremes when their mother dies, leaving them with one week to pay back her mortgage. With Tessa Thompson, Lily James, Luke Kirby, James Badge Dale, Lance Reddick.

Directed and written by Nia DaCosta. Produced by Rachael Fung, Gabrielle Nadig.

Mr. SOUL!

Screenings and Venues:

Sunday April 22, 8pm at Tribeca Festival Hub

Monday April 23, 5:45pm and Thursday April 26, 6:30pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

Wednesday April 25, 9:15pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

(USA) – World Premiere

Section:  Feature Documentary

This documentary has been a long time coming, and we’re all glad it has finally arrived.

Mr. SOUL! offers an entertaining, essential look at the groundbreaking television show SOUL!, which, under producer-host Ellis Haizlip’s passionate guidance, showcased the breadth of black artistry from 1968 to 1973.

Directed by Melissa Haizlip, Samuel Pollard, written and produced by Melissa Haizlip.

Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story – World Premiere

Screenings and Venues:

Friday April 20, 5:45pm at BMCC Tribeca

(USA) – World Premiere

Section:  Feature Documentary

Executive Produced by Jay-Z, Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story depicts the life and legacy of Trayvon Martin, presenting the definitive look at one of the most talked- about, controversial events of the last decade.

Executive Producers: Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, Michael Gasparro, Nick Sandow, Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin, Chachi Senior.

United Skates

Screenings and Venues:

Thursday April 19, 8:30pm; Friday April 20, 8:00pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

Saturday April 21, 8:30pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

Wednesday April 25, 7:15pm at Cinépolis Chelsea; Sunday April 29, 9:45pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

(USA) – World Premiere

Section: Documentary Competition

Credited with incubating East Coast hip-hop and West Coast rap, America’s roller rinks have long been bastions of regional African- American culture, music, and dance. As rinks shutter across the country, a few activists mount a last stand.

Directed and produced by Dyana Winkler, Tina Brown

Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland

Screenings and Venues:

Wednesday April 25, 8pm, SVA Theater

Thursday April 26, 8:30pm;  Friday April 27, 5:30pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

Saturday April 28, 2:45pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

(USA) – World Premiere

Section:  Spotlight Documentary

Sandra Bland was a bright, energetic activist whose life was cut short when a traffic stop resulted in a mysterious jail cell death just three days later. Say Her Name follows the two-year battle to uncover the truth. An HBO Documentary Film

Directed by Kate Davis, David Heilbroner. Produced by David Heilbroner, Kate Davis.

Let Them Die Like Lovers

Screenings and Venues:

Friday April 20, 10pm; Tuesday April 24, 8:30pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

Friday April 27, 9:45pm; Saturday April 28, 9:30pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

(USA) – New York Premiere

Section:  Short Narrative (Into the Void section)

Director Jesse Atlas played with time travel in his deservedly highly heralded short film Record/Play (2012).  He now returns to that form with his new emotionally charged sci-fi thriller as a body-jumping soldier grapples with the morality of her missions.

With Mustafa Shakir, Angela Lewis, Bradley Fisher.

Directed by Jesse Atlas, written by Jesse Atlas, Aaron Wolfe.

Into My Life

Screenings and Venues:

Friday April 20, 7pm; Wednesday April 25, 10:00pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park Friday April 27, 6:30pm; Saturday April 28, 6:30pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

(USA) – World Premiere

Section:  Short Documentary (NY Shorts: Homemade section)

From 1965 to the present, M. Elaine and Cassandra Bromfield, two African-American women, made joyful documents of their lives in Brooklyn’s Lindsay Park Housing Cooperative on 8-mm film. Into My Life pays tribute to their drive for self-preservation and self-representation, highlighting the memories, identities, and relationships housed within their archive. With Cassandra Bromfield.

Directed by Sarah Keeling, Grace Remington, Ivana Hucikova.

Dead Women Walking

Screenings and Venues:

Friday April 20, 6:30pm, Saturday April 21, 7:15pm at Cinépolis Chelsea

Sunday April 22, 5:45pm, Wednesday April 25, 8:30pm at Regal Cinemas Battery Park

(USA) – World Premiere

Section: Viewpoints (Feature Narrative)

Nine vignettes depict the stages leading to execution for women on death row in this emotional account of the human toll of the death penalty—on both the inmates and those they encounter in their final hours.  Ashton Sanders from Moonlight co-stars.

Directed and written by Hagar Ben-Asher. Produced by Clara Levy, Lorne Hiltser, Michael M. McGuire. With Dale Dickey, Dot Marie Jones, Lynn Collins, Colleen Camp, June Carryl, and Ashton Sanders.

Other Black content films worth seeing: 

The Gospel According to André – Special Screenings (Feature Documentary)

Directed by Kate Novack. Produced by Kate Novack, Andrew Rossi. (USA) – New York Premiere

From the segregated South to the fashion capitals of the world, The Gospel According to André recounts fashion editor André Leon Talley’s storied life and career through intimate conversations, rich archival, and testimonials from fashion luminaries including Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, and Marc Jacobs. With André Leon Talley. A Magnolia release.

Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes – Special Screenings (Feature Documentary)

Directed and written by Sophie Huber. Produced by Sophie Huber, Chiemi Karasawa, Susanne Guggenberger, Hercli Bundi. (Switzerland, USA) – World Premiere.

This is the history of Blue Note Records, the label that, since 1939, has recorded jazz giants ranging from Miles Davis to Robert Glasper—revolutionizing not only music, but also the world. With Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Robert Glasper, Don Was, Norah Jones.

Charm City – Viewpoints (Feature Documentary)

Directed by Marilyn Ness. Produced by Katy Chevigny, Marilyn Ness. (USA) – World Premiere.

Charm City takes viewers beyond the television headlines and over the front lines of violence in Baltimore; in doing so it reveals the grit and compassion of the city’s citizens, police, and government officials trying to reclaim their future.

Crossroads – Viewpoints (Feature Documentary)

Directed by Ron Yassen. Produced by Lauren Griswold. (USA) – World Premiere.

Despite never having played the game before, a group of underprivileged teens emerge as a talented lacrosse team under the tutelage of Coach Bobby Selkin in this inspiring documentary. An ESPN Films release. Also playing as part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.

It’s a Hard Truth Ain’t It – Special Screenings (Feature Documentary)

Directed by Madeleine Sackler. Produced by Stacey Reiss, Madeleine Sackler. (USA) – World Premiere.

Given unprecedented access to a maximum security prison, filmmaker Madeleine Sackler worked with a group of inmates to tell their own stories, giving rise to this collaborative, intimate documentary project.

Phantom Cowboys – Documentary Competition

Directed by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Produced by Ryan Scafuro, Annie Waldman, Daniel Patrick Carbone. (USA) – World Premiere.

This searing documentary, which spans nearly a decade, is a meditation on youth, tradition, and the evolving hopes and dreams of modern adolescents in the forgotten industrial towns across America.

The Rachel Divide – Documentary Competition

Directed by Laura Brownson, written by Laura Brownson, Jeff Gilbert. Produced by Laura Brownson, Bridget Stokes, Khaliah Neal. (USA) – World Premiere.

Rachel Dolezal became infamous when she was unmasked as a white woman living as the black head of her local N.A.A.C.P. chapter. This portrait cuts through the very public controversy to reveal Dolezal’s motivations. A Netflix release.

Satan & Adam – Viewpoints (Feature Documentary)

Directed by V. Scott Balcerek, written by V. Scott Balcerek, Ryan Suffern. Produced by Frank Marshall, Ryan Suffern. (USA) – World Premiere.

One was a demon on guitar; the other was fresh out of school and no slouch on harmonica. Satan & Adam is a rousing celebration of friendship and the blues comprised of documentary footage shot over the course of two decades. With Sterling Magee, Adam Gussow, The Edge, Rev. Al Sharpton, Harry Shearer, Quint Davis.

Tanzania Transit – Documentary Competition

Directed by Jeroen van Velzen, written by Jeroen van Velzen, Esther Eenstroom. Produced by Digna Sinke. (Netherlands) – World Premiere.

A train journey across Tanzania captures a microcosm of contemporary African society in Tribeca alum Jeroen van Velzen’s captivating and visually stunning road movie.

Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1 – Special Screenings (Feature Documentary)

Directed and written by Dexton Deboree. Produced by Dexton Deboree, Stefanie Fink. (USA) – World Premiere. Through interviews with Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, and more, this vibrant documentary tells the origin story of the Air Jordan, and the impact it had on sports, hip-hop, and the birth of sneaker culture. With Spike Lee, Anthony Anderson, Chuck D, DJ Khaled, Michael Jordan, Michael B Jordan, Jason Sudeikis, Lena Waithe, Russell Westbrook.

When Lambs Become Lions – Documentary Competition

Directed by Jon Kasbe. Produced by Jon Kasbe, Innbo Shim, Tom Yellin, Andrew Harrison Brown. (USA) – World Premiere.

In the Kenyan bush, a crackdown on ivory poaching forces a silver-tongued second-generation poacher to seek out an unlikely ally in this fly-on-the-wall look at both sides of the conservation divide.

SHORTS

The History of White People in America – Short Documentary (Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi G section)

Directed by Jonathan Halperin, Clementine Briand, Ed Bell, Aaron Keane, Pierce Freelon, Drew Takahashi, written by Pierce Freelon and Jon Halperin. (USA) – World Premiere.

The invention of race in America gets an animated, musical treatment.

The Life of Esteban (Het Leven van Esteban) – Short Narrative (Make or Break section)

Directed and written by Inès Eshun. (Belgium) – International Premiere.

Esteban, a future Olympic swimmer, has grown up with a single mother and doesn’t know who his father is. As he searches for his identity in this poetic short film, he determines swimming is a metaphor for life itself. With Noah Mavuela, Mathis Mavuela, Joshua Tassin, Tine Cartuyvels, Goua Grovogui, Lamine Diouf. In Dutch with English subtitles.

IMMERSIVE

1000 Cut Journey – Virtual Arcade (USA) World Premiere.

Project Creator: Courtney Cogburn, Elise Ogle, Jeremy Bailenson, Tobin Asher, Teff Nichols

Key Collaborators: Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Cogburn Research Group

In this immersive virtual-reality experience, the viewer becomes Michael Sterling, a black man, encountering racism as a young child, adolescent, and young adult. 1,000 Cut Journey highlights the social realities of racism, for understanding racism is the essential first step in promoting effective, collective social action and achieving racial justice.

My Africa – Virtual Arcade (USA, UK) World Premiere

Project Creator: Conservation International, Passion Planet, Vision3

In Northern Kenya, the futures of wildlife and people are intertwined. Stand in the midst of a thundering wildebeest migration, witness a lioness snatch her prey—and meet a community dedicated to saving Africa’s wildlife in My Africa. The mixed-reality, companion experience puts participants in the shoes of a Reteti Elephant Sanctuary keeper caring for the newest arrival, a baby elephant named Dudu.

Cast: Lupita Nyong’o (narrator), Naltwasha Leripe

Dinner Party – Virtual Arcade (Puerto Rico, USA) New York Premiere

Project Creator: Angel Manuel Soto, Charlotte Stoudt, Laura Wexler

Key Collaborators: Rachel Skidmore, Bryn Mooser, Erik Donley

Dinner Party tells the incredible story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who made the first report of a UFO abduction in America in 1961. Having sought hypnosis to recover memories of their inexplicable experience, the Hills decide to listen to the recording of their session during a dinner party—and what they hear could change their lives forever.

Cast: Malcolm Barrett, Sarah Sokolovic

Quest is a group portrait of the Rainey family: patriarch Christopher aka “Quest,” whose passion to keep open his music studio as an outlet for self-determination, sanctuary, and healing in his community is juxtaposed by the odd jobs he has to take to support his own family, matriarch Chirstine’a, known affectionately as Ma, who supports Quest in his journey while working tirelessly at a local homeless shelter and trying to take care of both her son William, who is undergoing brain cancer treatment while trying to raise his newborn son, and the endearing PJ, Christopher and Chirstine’a’s independently-minded daughter.

While the family seems somewhat typical on the outside, especially for their North Philadelphia neighborhood, what makes their story standout is their love and understanding for one another, a love not often depicted in “urban” focus documentaries.  Just as important however is director Jonathan Olshefski’s constant, vérité gaze of respect and admiration, but still a critical outside look, of the Raineys.

The pacing of Quest is what works best for it. The film takes its time to allow you to feel the triumphs and the mundanity of the Rainey’s lives. And even when it goes down what may be seen as a typical “ghetto narrative” (a literal tearjerker of a moment), it is the actual world and their circumstances telling the story, not the filmmakers own.  Most of all, the Raineys stand out because they do not define themselves by their circumstances, they define themselves by how they circumvent them and stay together as a unit.  And that unit is not independent of their community, it’s stronger because of it.   

Still, I almost did not go see this film.  Though I possess a critical eye no matter the subject, I am wary of white directors and their oftentimes troubling gaze into the inner workings of the Black community.  But Quest is not that at all. Olshefski’s intimate perspective is genuine, and he notes his outsider status as an artist who began photographing the Rainey’s studio simply to share their hopeful community message for North Philly, but felt he had to do more to share the story of these incredible individuals and family.  

Olshefski notes that, “Over the years I have often been asked, “What right do you have, as a white man, to make a film about a Black community?” I don’t know if I am the one to answer that question. I made the film and I stand by my choices, but I don’t think I have any inherent right and I am very aware of the long history of privileged filmmakers going into communities that are not their own to take stories and craft them for other audiences outside of the community. This can be an incredibly destructive process and marginalize the place and its people, especially when it is a place that was already marginalized.”

No doubt that some of his perspective may have been shaped by his award winning producer, the versatile Sabrina Schmidt Gordon.  Most recently known as director of the documentary BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, her prior claims to fame are as co-producer and editor of DOCUMENTED, about undocumented journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, and Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, directed by Byron Hurt and which premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival.

QUEST | Official Trailer from Jonathan Olshefski on Vimeo.

QUEST (105 min.) makes its NYC theatrical premiere at the Quad Cinema this Friday, December 8th.  

Additional link:

• QUEST official site

Series: Centerstage

When you think about it for a second, it’s pretty odd that a true documentary on a legendary talent like Sammy Davis Jr. has, until this point, never been made.  

Yet when you properly examine his career, as “Sammy Davis, Jr,: I’ve Gotta Be Me,” titled off of one of his most famous songs, so expertly and emotionally does, not only do you gain an extreme amount of insight on him, you also remember – or discover – that the very complicated Davis had his life in so many different cultures and identities, that perhaps finding the ‘right’ narrative to explore his life is what inhibited his story from being told.

And maybe that’s a good thing, since it allowed one of our greatest documentarians, Sam Pollard (last year’s “Two Trains Runnin’,” “Slavery by Another Name”), to be the one to direct Davis’ life story.  

One of the world’s most talented performers of the last century, Davis’ singing, dancing and acting made him a huge star of the stage and screen since his youth on the vaudeville ‘chitlin’ circuit’ with The Will Mastin Trio (Davis’ ‘uncle’ and dad) beginning in the 1920’s, squarely into worldwide fame in the 1960’s with Frank Sinatra’s legendary Rat Pack troupe. But his breaking of severe racial barriers in performing for vast white audiences came at a cost. As the Civil Rights Movement picked up steam concurrent with his ‘acceptance’ by the White community, the Black community began to regard Davis as an Uncle Tom.  

Of course, Davis’ romancing of, and marriages to, White women, did not help his relationship with the Black community, nor did his becoming the most public black figure to embrace Judaism as a religion, or his insistence on holding onto increasingly outdated show business traditions.  

But then Sammy Davis Jr. never did things the easy way, nor was he allowed to.  

What “…I’ve Gotta Be Me” does so fluidly is explore the vastness of Davis’ complicated life without apology.  It doesn’t allow you to feel too much sympathy toward Davis, nor does it allow you triumphantly judge him, even at his most screwed up moments like hugging of the soon-to-be condemned Richard Nixon (which is just one of many).  This documentary full-on embraces the contradictory nature of Davis relationship, primarily with his own self-image, unfurling a man beaten down by life and the gross inequities of racism yet always, always trying to achieve the American Dream.  

Regardless of how you feel about Sammy Davis Jr., his talent cannot be denied. It flat cannot. And seeing it on the big screen makes it even less deniable since, as you would expect, the footage of him dancing, singing, and yes doing expert impressions of mid-century movie stars like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney is truly inspiring.  And for a performer as rich as Davis, this is everything. This is where his genuineness truly shows, where he can relax, slow down, speed up, and show the world who he really is – someone able to make people laugh, cry, and holler.  

We ask so much of our performers.  This is one of the only things that the unites the world across racial, political, and social lines.  We ask them to sacrifice so much, then expect them to be just like us at the same time. That’s not reality, and perhaps why Sammy chose not to live in the reality the world set for him. And that would make sense, because despite everything, his mantra holds: “I’ve gotta be me.”

Featuring new interviews with such luminaries as Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones, Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, and Kim Novak, with never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection and aforementioned excerpts from his electric performances in television, film and concert, “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me” makes its NYC premiere on November 12th at DOC NYC and repeats on Tuesday November 14th.