The Obituary of Tunde Johnson

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Movie
Original title The Obituary of Tunde Johnson
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2019
length 104 minutes
Rod
Director Ali LeRoi
script Stanley Kalu
production Chuck Bond ,
Marni Bond ,
Zachary Green ,
Jason Shuman
camera Steven Holleran
occupation

The Obituary of Tunde Johnson is a film drama by Ali LeRoi that premiered on September 8, 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival . In addition to the homosexuality of the protagonist and his coming-out towards his parents, the film also addresses drug abuse, racism against blacks and police violence in the USA .

action

A wealthy Nigerian-American teenager, Tunde Johnson, is shot dead at a police checkpoint, only to wake up and see the day of his death over and over again, because the student is trapped in a time warp. The 18-year-old experiences May 28 over and over again. However, this fact, as well as his racially motivated killing, are not Tunde's most pressing problems. Rather, he tries to tell his best friend Marley that they are both sleeping with Soren O'Connor.

production

Directed by Ali LeRoi , the screenplay was written by Stanley Kalu . It is the feature film debut of director LeRoi and the first screenplay by Kalu. LeRoi was best known as the creator, screenwriter, and director of the television series Everyone Hates Chris . Kalu, born in Nigeria, wrote the screenplay as a 19-year-old film student at the University of Southern California and won first place for his work in The Launch screenwriting competition in 2018. Before he moved to the United States, Kalu had lived in Nigeria and other countries south of the Sahara , which means that as a black man he was always part of the majority. This inspired the story of Tunde Johnson, as he suddenly belonged to a minority after moving to USC. It was depressing and it took him some effort to prove his worth in the system. On the news broadcasts, he kept seeing people who looked like him, who died as victims of systematic violence, which quickly made you feel like you could be next. This characteristic of identity, which one cannot influence, made him recognize the parallels of violence against queer people in Africa , against whom one acts very violently and who are systematically locked up or stoned on the street. LeRoi notes that Tunde's cultural background, Nigerian ancestry, and his parents' unusually open attitude towards his homosexuality set a counterpoint to his repeated killing in the USA, as Tunde would have feared for his life in Africa after coming out must, as he must in the USA as a black.

Steven Silver took over the title role from Tunde Johnson. His parents Ade and Yomi are played by Sammi Rotibi and Tembi Locke . Nicola Peltz plays his best friend Marley, Spencer Neville plays his crush Soren O'Connor, whose conservative father, the news anchor Alfred O'Connor, is played by David James Elliott .

Filming began in Los Angeles in November 2018 . Some recordings, such as the party scene, were made in the Hollywood Hills . Steven Holleran , who worked with colorist Jason Hanel, acted as cameraman . The works of art shown in the film are by Shawn Theodore, who incorporated the subject of death into his work for the production design. The work of the photographer, who was born in Germany in 1970, is influenced by the collective black consciousness.

The score was provided by bassist Darryl Jones , who has worked with the Rolling Stones in the past and has been friends with the director for several years. In addition, songs by the rapper Waka Flocka Flame and the jazz, R&B and gospel singer Lalah Hathaway , who sings a song by Nina Simone , are used in the film.

The film was first shown on September 8, 2019 as part of the Toronto International Film Festival . On October 24, 2019, he opened the Austin Film Festival. At the end of August 2020 it will be shown at Outfest Los Angeles, which will take place in the open air, and will also be offered by the festival for a fee as video-on-demand .

reception

Reviews

In The Hollywood Reporter , Beandrea July writes that the abundance of topics combined with the circular structure of the narrative creates an intense experience that can easily overwhelm the viewer. The nonlinear structure shares some of its cinematic DNA with Kasi Lemmons ' Eve's Bayou and Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust so, July on.

Awards

Outfest Los Angeles 2020

  • Best Debut Film Awarded the Audience Award ( Ali LeRoi )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Exclusive Interviews: The Obituary of Tunde Johnson Cast, Writer and Director. In: thequeerreview.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  2. ↑ Phenia Hovsepyan: Writing Student Wins Million-Dollar Screenplay Competition. In: usc.edu, October 15, 2018.
  3. ↑ Natalie Bettendorf: Student wins million-dollar screenplay competition. In: dailytrojan.com, August 22, 2018.
  4. ^ Brian Taylor: The Obituary of Tunde Johnson: Interview w / Director Ali LeRoi & Writer Stanley Kalu. In: thecinemen.com, October 31, 2019.
  5. ↑ http://www.aafca.com/episode-13-episode-13-ali-leroi-the-obituary-of-tunde-johnson
  6. ↑ Amanda N'Duka: '13 Reasons Why's Steven Silver, Nicola Peltz, Spencer Neville To Topline 'The Obituary of Tunde Johnson' Indie. In: deadline.com, November 1, 2018.
  7. ↑ Karen Benardello: Toronto International Film Festival 2019 Interview: Steven Holleran Talks The Obituary of Tunde Johnson. In: shockya.com, October 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ Steven Holleran, the DOP for the highly-anticipated drama 'The Obituary of Tunde Johnson'. In: mherewithmag.com, September 11, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  9. ↑ http://www.aafca.com/episode-13-episode-13-ali-leroi-the-obituary-of-tunde-johnson
  10. ↑ Shawn Theodore: Biography. In: shawntheodo.re. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  11. ↑ The 26th Annual Austin Film Festival to Open with the US Premiere of 'The Obituary of Tunde Johnson', and Announced Additional Titles Set to Screen at the Festival. In: businesswire.com, October 17, 2019.
  12. ^ Daniel Reynolds: Outfest Announces Virtual and Drive-In Screenings of Over 160 Films. In: advocate.com, August 10, 2020.
  13. ↑ 2020 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival Film Guide . In: issuu.com, p. 9. Accessed August 30, 2020.
  14. ↑ Beandrea July: 'The Obituary of Tunde Johnson': Film Review - TIFF 2019. 'In: The Hollywood Reporter, October 21, 20119.
  15. ↑ Daniel Reynolds: Outfest Announces 2020 Winners and Surprise 'Encore Week'. In: August 31, 2020.