Director Barry Jenkins
It is only the fourth film of the festival and I can not imagine that the Newark Black Film Festival (NBFF) can get any better. Last night’s screening of Medicine for Melancholy, “a modern love story of bikes and one night stands, captivated the audience from beginning to end. Award-winning San Franciscan writer and director, Barry Jenkins, introduced his film to a packed theater of people who as a result of the vague synopsis given by the Newark Museum had no clue what to expect. However, the Newark Museum should be excused because it is a difficult task to describe this 88 minutes long romantic drama slash comedy slash date movie slash its so hard to put this movie in a box that you just have to see it and create your own label. Although at the surface Medicine for Melancholy is portrayed as a romantic drama the movie quickly unfolds into a discourse about the issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in the rapidly gentrifying San Francisco—“a city with the smallest proportional black population of any other major American city.”
This year is the 35th year of NBFF which makes it the longest running film festival of its kind. With over 675 films under its belt NBFF rolls on. If you missed last night screening, you can always catch A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School next week at the Newark Museum. Remember show time is at 7 pm if you would like to sit show up early or you’ll be forced to stand.
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