The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul and the Capri Theater present the highly acclaimed film I Am Not Your Negro at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 1. Tickets to First Thursday Films @ the Capri are $5; purchase in advance at mspfilm.org or at the door the night of the show. The Capri is located at 2027 West Broadway.
I Am Not Your Negro is based on an unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin, one of the most influential writers to emerge from the civil rights era. In it he explored the lives of his murdered friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and presents some of his personal observations of American history. Director Raoul Peck revived the manuscript and brought it to life “…with photographs, archival news footage, Hollywood films and Baldwin himself, enhancing his words with his TV appearances and filmed debates.” (Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service)
“I did not write one single line,” Peck says. “Everything in it is pure Baldwin. What I did was create a sort of libretto, like dancers who take a Shakespeare play and use it to make a collage to construct something different.”
Peck also brought contemporary issues to the fore by applying Baldwin’s words to current events including the Rodney King beating and the Black Lives Matter protests. Samuel Jackson narrates the film.
I Am Not Your Negro was a 2017 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature and was praised as “One of the 10 best films of the year” by Manohla Dargis of The New York Times.
First Thursday Films audiences are invited into conversation following each film. I Am Not Your Negro promises to engender a really good discussion. Please join us.
Note that First Thursdays continues with Mali Blues on July 5 followed by Hidden Figures on August 3. The full fall season of First Thursday Films will be available in July.
This screening of I Am Not Your Negro is part of Black Cinema: Under the Skin, a program of films by Black filmmakers exploring Black culture and experiences, funded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul receives additional support for this series from the law firm of Grey Plant Mooty and the Minneapolis Foundation. Find more info at thecapritheater.org and mspfilm.org.