Dear White People | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Justin Simien |
Written by | Justin Simien |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Topher Osborn |
Edited by | Phillip J. Bartell |
Music by | Kathryn Bostic |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 108 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.3 million [2] [3] |
Box office | $5.4 million [3] |
Dear White People is a 2014 American [4] satirical dark comedy-drama film [5] [6] written, directed and co-produced by Justin Simien. The film focuses on escalating racial tensions at a fictitious, prestigious Ivy League college from the perspective of several black students. It stars Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner, Teyonah Parris, Brandon P. Bell, Brittany Curran, Marque Richardson and Dennis Haysbert.
The film premiered in competition in the US Dramatic Category at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. [7] [8] The film had a theatrical release in United States on October 17, 2014. [9] A commercial and critical success, the film profited at the box office and received positive reviews from many professional critics. It has also been nominated for and has received several awards.
In 2017, the film was adapted into a Netflix series of the same name, also with Simien's involvement. [5] [6] Like the film, the series has also enjoyed critical acclaim.
Samantha White, a media arts major at the fictional Winchester University, causes a stir at the prestigious and predominantly white school by criticizing white people and the racist transgressions at Winchester in her sharp-tongued, witty radio show Dear White People and her self-published book, Ebony and Ivy. Tensions rise when Sam runs to become head of house of Armstrong/Parker, the historically-black house on campus. She is opposed by Troy Fairbanks, an ex-boyfriend who harbors dreams of being a comedic writer, but who is pressed by his father, the school's dean, to become a lawyer, to not give white people a chance to profile him, and to give nothing less than his best. Coco is trying to persuade a reality TV producer to do a show on her, but he would prefer to highlight the light-skinned Sam. Lionel Higgins, a black gay student, gets a chance to find his place at Winchester by being recruited by the school's most prestigious student newspaper to write a piece on Sam and the black experience at Winchester. When Kurt, a white student and son of the school's president, and his club throw a blackface party in response to Sam's outspoken show, black students appear at the party, and a brawl ensues.
Simien spent five years writing the script beginning in 2007. The next year, he made a trailer to promote and gain attention and funds for his project, which went viral. [10] He also launched a campaign at Indiegogo to raise $25,000 but he got an overwhelming response and managed to raise $40,000 instead. [11]
The project won IndieWire's Project of the Year title and Simien was later invited to 2013 Tribeca Film Festival to participate in Filmmaker/Industry meetings hosted by the festival. [12] Talking about Tribeca Film Festival, Simien said that "we had a lot of meetings with a lot of studios. We had a lot of conversations with studios and distributors and basically, we decided that the best offer on the table was from an independent financier, Julie Lebedev of Code Red Films. To make it independently, that was really the dream -- because then we could make the movie we wanted to make." [10]
Principal photography took place in late September 2013 in Minnesota, including at the University of Minnesota and other locations in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and in Los Angeles, including the UCLA campus. [13] The filming was completed in 19 days. [14] Simien shot the film with Red Epic digital camera and said that "I would love to shoot on film. I don't believe it's completely dead, but this format made a lot of sense for our production." [10] [15]
Dear White People grossed $347,959 in its first weekend in only 11 theaters. It went on to earn $4,404,154 in a limited theatrical run, finishing as the 3rd highest-grossing film to come out of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. [16] [17]
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 91% based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 7.47/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Dear White People adds a welcome new voice to cinema's oft-neglected discussion of race, tackling its timely themes with intelligence, honesty, and gratifyingly sharp wit." [18] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 79 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [19]
Justin Chang, in his review for Variety , said that the film "provokes admiration for having bothered to ask some of the hard questions without pretending to know any of the answers" and praising the cast said that "Williams, Thompson, Parris and Bell all make strong, distinctive impressions, with Thompson perhaps the standout as the film’s sharpest and most enigmatic figure." [20] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter praised the performances of cast, saying, "Thompson’s conflicted student activist, which she pulls off with practiced composure. Williams manages to consistently dial up Lionel's nervousness and bewilderment throughout the film to a point of heightened tension that necessitates decisive resolution. As lovers, then rivals who must eventually seek mutual accommodation, Parris and Bell understand that for Coco and Troy, discovering humility is just the beginning of these characters' realigned journeys." He further added, "An edgy premise and memorable cast make for a potent first impression." [21] Zeba Blay of IndieWire gave a positive review and said, "With its vividly drawn world and characters, the movie doesn’t presume to encompass the entirety of what it means to be black, but it does give one of the most entertaining and honest depictions of black life in a so-called “white” world in years." [22] Terence Johnson of ScottFeinberg.com gave a positive review to the film and said that "Dear White People is a perfect film for today’s generation". [23]
Accolades | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
2014 | Palm Springs International Film Festival | Directors to Watch | Justin Simien | Won | [24] [25] |
Sundance Film Festival | U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent | Justin Simien | Won | [26] | |
Gotham Independent Film Awards | Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award | Justin Simien | Nominated | [27] | |
Breakthrough Actor | Tessa Thompson | Won | |||
2015 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Film | Dear White People | Nominated | [28] |
Outstanding Director | Justin Simien | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted or Original | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Original Score | Kathryn Bostic | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Ensemble, Casting Director | Kim Coleman | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Actress, Motion Picture | Tessa Thompson | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male | Tyler James Williams | Won | |||
Brandon Bell | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female | Teyonah Parris | Won | |||
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture | Nominated | ||||
Independent Spirit Awards | Best First Screenplay | Justin Simien | Won | [29] [30] | |
Best First Feature | Justin Simien, Effie Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez and Lena Waithe | Nominated | |||
NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Motion Picture | Dear White People | Nominated | [31] | |
Outstanding Independent Motion Picture | Nominated | ||||
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture | Tessa Thompson | Nominated |
On May 5, 2016, Lionsgate announced a deal to produce a series based on the film, distributed through Netflix. This is the second Netflix original program for Lionsgate Television, following Orange Is the New Black . [32]
Tessa Lynne Thompson is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College, appearing in productions of The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. Following her role in Veronica Mars (2005–2006), her breakthrough came with leading roles in Tina Mabry's independent drama film Mississippi Damned (2009) and Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls (2010).
The Staircase is a 2004 French-produced, English-language documentary television miniseries directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade about the trial of Michael Peterson, convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson.
Ava Marie DuVernay is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Award, a BAFTA Film Award, and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee of an Academy Award and Golden Globe. In 2011, she founded her independent distribution company ARRAY.
Adam Bhala Lough is an American film director, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker from Fairfax, Virginia. Known for his dramas about subcultures and popular youth cultures, several of Lough's films have been selected as part of the Sundance Film Festival, and is the only filmmaker with a feature film and a documentary in the festival, as well as a screenplay selected for the annual Sundance Screenwriter's Lab.
Zoey Francis Chaya Thompson Deutch is an American actress. The younger daughter of director Howard Deutch and actress-director Lea Thompson, Deutch made her acting debut in television during the early 2010s, with roles on Disney Channel's The Suite Life on Deck (2010–2011) and CW's Ringer (2011–2012).
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People is a 2014 documentary film directed by Thomas Allen Harris. It is inspired by Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present by Deborah Willis, who also produced the film. The film had its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.
Justin Simien is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. His first feature film, Dear White People, won the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. It was later adapted into the Netflix series of the same name (2017–2021). Simien has also been named to Variety's 2013 "10 Directors to Watch" list.
Damien Sayre Chazelle is an American filmmaker. He directed the psychological drama Whiplash (2014), the musical romantic drama La La Land (2016), the biographical drama First Man (2018), and the period film Babylon (2022).
Kristopher Bowers is an American composer, pianist and documentary director. He has composed scores for films, including Green Book, King Richard, and The Color Purple, and television series, among them Bridgerton, Mrs. America, Dear White People, and When They See Us.
Caught a Ghost is an indie electro soul band based in Los Angeles, California. The band is a project from Los Angeles singer, songwriter and producer Jesse Nolan and kindergarten classmate Stephen Edelstein. Their debut album, Human Nature, was released 1 April 2014.
Teyonah Parris is an American actress. A graduate of Juilliard School, she began acting in 2010. Her first prominent role was playing secretary Dawn Chambers in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2012–2015) and starring in the 2014 independent film Dear White People. Since then, Parris has appeared in the drama series Empire (2014), Spike Lee's crime comedy Chi-Raq (2015), and the drama film If Beale Street Could Talk (2018).
Austin Stark is an American film director, writer, and producer best known for films that explore social issues, from mental illness in Infinitely Polar Bear to class conflict in Coup!
Dear White People is an American comedy-drama television series on Netflix that follows several black college students at an Ivy League institution, touching on issues surrounding modern American race relations from a politically progressive perspective. It is based on and a continuation of the 2014 film of the same name. The film's writer and director, Justin Simien, returned to write and direct episodes of the series. This series stars Logan Browning, Brandon P. Bell, DeRon Horton, and Antoinette Robertson. With a few exceptions, generally season finales, each episode focuses on one particular character. The series premiered on April 28, 2017. On October 2, 2019, the series was renewed for its fourth and final season, which was released on September 22, 2021.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. is an American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for a British Academy Film Award, Gotham Award, an Independent Spirit Award.
If Beale Street Could Talk is a 2018 American romantic drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins and based on James Baldwin's 1974 novel of the same name. It stars an ensemble cast that includes KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, and Regina King. The film follows a young woman who, with her family's support, seeks to clear the name of her wrongly charged lover and prove his innocence before the birth of their child.
Lana Wilson is an American filmmaker. She directed the feature documentaries After Tiller, The Departure, and Miss Americana, as well as the two-part documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields. The first two films were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary.
Passing is a 2021 American historical drama film written and directed by Rebecca Hall in her feature directorial debut. It is adapted from the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen. Set in 1920s New York City, the film follows the intertwined life of a black woman and her white-passing childhood friend. Appearing in supporting roles are André Holland, Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, and Alexander Skarsgård. It was filmed in black-and-white.
Ashley Blaine Featherson-Jenkins is an American actress. She is best known as the co-creator and star of Black&SexyTV's Hello Cupid. She also appeared in the web series Roomieloverfriends, the film Bad Hair, and was a main cast member on the Netflix series Dear White People (2017–2021).
Rachel Lears is an American independent documentary filmmaker. She is the director of Knock Down the House (2019), a documentary film about four women running for Congress in the 2018 midterms, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January 2019 and was sold to Netflix for $10 million, releasing on May 1, 2019. Her other documentaries include The Hand That Feeds (2014), about undocumented immigrant workers in a labor dispute with owners at a Manhattan bakery café, and To the End (2022), about climate change.
Bad Hair is a 2020 American satirical black horror comedy film written, directed, and produced by Justin Simien. The film stars Elle Lorraine, Jay Pharoah, Lena Waithe, Kelly Rowland, Laverne Cox, Chanté Adams, James Van Der Beek, Usher Raymond IV, Blair Underwood, and Vanessa Williams.