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If you haven’t gotten a chance to read James Baldwin’s 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk, then put it on your must-see film list of 2018.
The director of the film adaptation, Barry Jenkins, released the first teaser trailer on August 2nd, a date particularly significant to the director and James Baldwin. He says in a Twitter quote: “For me, August 2nd has always been a day to pay tribute, so… a teaser of what’s to come. Happy Birthday, Jimmy.” The beloved Afro-American author would have been 94 years old this year.
So the plot goes a little like this: picture Harlem, classic New York, in the 1970’s, and young love between an up-and-coming sculptor named Fonny and his fiancee Tish. Shortly after getting engaged, their blessings are followed by bad luck. Tish finds out that she is pregnant but Fonny is falsely accused of raping a Puerto Rican woman and is immediately thrown in jail. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
Check the trailer out here:
Barry Jenkins’ production company, Pastel, is funding the film, along with Annapurna Pictures, founded by Megan Ellison, and Plan B Entertainment Inc., run by Brad Pitt. The director chose actors and actresses who are a little less well-known, something he also did for his previous film, Moonlight. Playing the roles will be Kiki Layhne, Teyonah Parris (from Dear White People) and Brian Tyree Henry (from Atlanta).
Stephen James, the actor playing Fonny, said in an interview at the Essence Film Festival in New Orleans that “when I first read the script, it reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. That love is the center of this film.”
Aside from picking great actors, Jenkins also featured an old audio clip of Baldwin’s voice in the trailer. Go back and listen again if you missed it. He says:
“There are days when you wonder what your role is in this country and what your future is in it. The things that tormented me the most were the very things that connected me to all the people who were alive.”
After the film premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, it will make it’s way to theaters on November 30, 2018.
Here’s something else to look forward to: Game of Thrones Season 8 Will Air in The First Half of 2019!
