This hour-long documentary is a startling portrait of a Harlem street corner. Following its successful UK premiere as part of the Frames of Representation documentary film programme, director Khalik Allah describes his intimate and singular vision as quite simply 'taking the hood off of the hood and showing you the head.' The film's title recalls Malcolm X's Message to the Grassroots, in which he delineated his concept of two types of slaves.
Shot entirely at night on the corner of 125th and Lexington Avenue in Harlem, the film captures the mental, physical and spiritual struggles of the neighborhood's most exhausted and oppressed inhabitants. Photographed by Allah himself, Field Niggas spotlights its subjects in stunningly composed, dignified portraits that are hypnotically woven with street images. The non-synch audio track consists of conversations with and among those faces: dreams, regrets, arguments, affection, observations, opinions.
Shot in July of 2014, with the heinous death of Eric Garner by an NYPD officer occurring mid-production, Field Niggas is a breakthrough non-fiction film that serves as an ardent call to rise above social constructs.
In what appears to be a serendipitous encounter upon saving the life of a stranger, the calculated and reserved businessman Nick meets the impulsive and optimistic photographer Ali, who believes in destiny and carpe diem, or seizing the day. Nick, who seeks closure for his past mistakes, is drawn towards Ali's spirit and vigor. Despite living with a congenital heart disease and being on the wait-list for a heart transplant, Ali continues to be hopeful about her future. Ali challenges Nick to seize every moment of his life before it's too late. Meanwhile, Nick finds a way to give Ali a new lease on life - even if it means risking one's life and their love for each other.
This poetic film weaves together childhood images, meditative musings and documentary footage as we follow the journey of director Philippa Ndisi-Herrmann's conversion to Islam. She shares with us her strong affinity to Rumi poetry and guides us through her creative process as she is tasked with making a film about the building of a new port in Lamu, Kenya. As she gets lost in the creation of a film she didn't want to make, she instead uses her own experiences and connections she builds with a local family in Lamu to turn the story into her own spiritual voyage.
A violinist looks to inspire his students at a challenging music school.
The story of Ana, a young Romanian woman, kidnapped and sold into a human trafficking ring.