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Director
Barry
Jenkins’
ambitious
follow-up
to
Moonlight
adapts
James
Baldwin’s
poignant
novel
about a
woman
fighting
to free
her
falsely
accused
husband
from
prison
before
the
birth of
their
child. |
| |
Toronto
International
Film
Festival:
If Beale
Street
Could
Talk
TORONTO
-
Academy
Award-winning
writer/director
Barry
Jenkins'
first
film
since
the Best
Picture
Oscar-winning
Moonlight
is If
Beale
Street
Could
Talk,
his
adaptation
of James
Baldwin's
novel -
the
first
English-language
feature
film
based on
the work
of the
author,
to whom
the
movie is
dedicated.
Set
in
early-1970s
Harlem,
If Beale
Street
Could
Talk is
a
timeless
and
moving
love
story of
both a
couple's
unbreakable
bond and
the
African-American
family's
empowering
embrace,
as told
through
the eyes
of
19-year
old Tish
Rivers
(screen
newcomer
KiKi
Layne).
A
daughter
and
wife-to-be,
Tish
vividly
recalls
the
passion,
respect
and
trust
that
have
connected
her and
her
artist
fiancé
Alonzo
Hunt,
who goes
by the
nickname
Fonny
(Stephan
James).
Friends
since
childhood,
the
devoted
couple
dream of
a future
together
but
their
plans
are
derailed
when
Fonny is
arrested
for a
crime he
did not
commit.
Tish
knows
that
Fonny is
innocent,
and is
mindful
that his
good
friend
Daniel
Carty
(Tony
and Emmy
Award
nominee
Brian
Tyree
Henry)
has only
recently
been
freed
after an
unjust
incarceration.
While
Fonny's
mother
(Aunjanue
Ellis)
clings
to piety
and his
father
(Michael
Beach)
grapples
with
feelings
of
powerlessness,
Tish's
earthy
father
Joseph
(Colman
Domingo)
and
fierce
older
sister
Ernestine
(Teyonah
Parris)
are
unwavering
in their
support.
Even
more
anxious
to clear
Fonny's
name is
Tish's
deeply
compassionate
mother
Sharon
(Emmy
Award
winner
Regina
King),
readying
to put
herself
on the
line for
her
daughter
and
future
son-in-law's
happiness...
...and
for the
couple's
unborn
child,
whose
arrival
will
herald
new joys
and
challenges.
Facing
the
unexpected
prospect
of
parenthood
and
holding
down a
job
without
her
partner
at her
side,
Tish
must
adjust
her
perspective
on the
realities
of her
existence.
She
visits
Fonny
regularly,
trying
to shore
up his
spirit
even as
prison
takes
its
toll. As
the
weeks
turn to
months,
Tish
reaffirms
their
hopes
and
resilience,
relying
on
familial
and
inner
strength.
Through
the
unique
intimacy
and
power of
cinema,
If Beale
Street
Could
Talk
honors
the
author's
prescient
words
and
imagery,
charting
the
emotional
currents
navigated
in an
unforgiving
and
racially
biased
world as
the
filmmaker
poetically
crosses
time
frames
to show
how love
and
humanity
endure.
Director:
Barry
Jenkins
Writer:
Barry
Jenkins
Producers:
Megan
Ellison,
Barry
Jenkins,
Adele
Romanski,
Sara
Murphy,
Jeremy
Kleiner,
Dede
Gardner
Cast:
KiKi
Layne,
Stephan
James,
Regina
King,
Colman
Domingo,
Teyonah
Parris,
Brian
Tyree
Henry,
Michael
Beach,
Ed
Skrein,
Diego
Luna,
Dave
Franco,
Pedro
Pascal
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