Dir. Cauleen Smith
1998, USA, 81 min
A lost treasure of 1990s DIY filmmaking, Cauleen Smith’s Drylongso embeds an incisive look at racial injustice within a lovingly handmade buddy movie/murder mystery/ romance. Alarmed by the rate at which the young Black men around her are dying—indeed, “becoming extinct,” as she sees it—brash Oakland art student Pica (Toby Smith) attempts to preserve their existence in Polaroid snapshots, along the way forging a friendship with a woman in an abusive relationship (April Barnett), experiencing love and loss, and being drawn into the search for a serial killer who is terrorizing the city. Capturing the vibrant community spirit of Oakland in the nineties, Smith crafts both a rare cinematic celebration of Black female creativity and a moving elegy for a generation of lost African American men.
Join us on Friday, September 1 for a post-screening discussion with series curator Mahlet Cuff and Nampande Londe, co-organizer of the Black Film Collective.
“A lovely portrait of young Black women trying to survive, find communion and joy in a world that is dangerous for them”. – Angelica Jade Bastién, Letterboxd
“Smith braids politics, friendship and romance throughout ‘Drylongso’.” – Lisa Kennedy, New York Times
Largely ignored by the society that they live in, Black girls create their own stories that acknowledge and authenticate their existence. Curated by Mahlet Cuff, Memories of Girlhood, dives into the vulnerabilities and intricacies of what it means to be a Black girl and to have autonomy of one’s own girlhood. Featuring fiction and documentary films, Memories of Girlhood examines moments filled with joy, awkwardness, hope and resistance.
Generously sponsored by IATSE 856 Manitoba.
