'The Last Black Man In San Francisco' Trailer: A24's Sundance Winner Gives A New Perspective On Gentrification
One of the Sundance Film Festival's biggest hits was a little film by a new first-time director that is becoming the indie hit to beat this summer. The Last Black Man in San Francisco follows the footsteps of last year's searing indictments of gentrification, Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You, but with the addition of a warm, vibrant color palette and director Joe Talbot's lyrical direction. The winner of the US Dramatic Directing Award was picked up for distribution by A24, who released the first The Last Black Man in San Francisco trailer.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco Trailer
"We built these ships, dredged these canals in the San Francisco they never knew existed. This is our home." The Last Black Man in San Francisco tells the tale of the forgotten side of The Golden City, one built up by the black men and women who were priced out of their homes by gentrification. But Jimmie (newcomer Jimmie Fails, who has a "story by" credit on the script and plays a character inspired by his own life) is trying to reclaim that home. After the beautiful Victorian house that his grandfather built is vacated by its latest homeowners, Jimmie and his best friend Mont (Jonathan Majors) move in to claim the space for their own, despite the changing face of San Francisco that increasingly threatens to leave them behind.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco earned raves at Sundance, including from our own Ben Pearson, who called the film a "warm, funny movie about legacy, loss, and the strength to move forward" and "a touching drama that cares deeply about the people San Francisco has forgotten." He in particular praised new director Talbot's "lyrical, poetic approach to the storytelling, creating vignettes that paint a larger picture about whether anything can ever truly be owned, how family relationships can be their own sort of trap, how history can connect you to a place even when the world refuses to acknowledge that connection, and how art can illuminate truths that would may otherwise have gone unspoken."
With a reviews like that, a lush, sumptuous color palette, and a supporting cast that includes Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover, Rob Morgan, and Tichina Arnold, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is priming to be one of the big indie hits of the summer.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco opens in theaters summer 2019.