FOR AHKEEM (Landon Van Soest, Jeremy S. Levine, U.S.). 90 minutes. Rating: NNNN
Directors Landon Van Soest and Jeremy S. Levine spent a couple of years following St. Louis-area teenager Daje, whom we meet as she’s placed in an alternative high school as a last resort. She’s 17, Black and angry all the time.
For a long chunk of the film we simply watch as Daje makes her stated goal of graduating high school almost impossible to achieve through a combination of bad temper and worse choices. She also meets Antonio, a classmate who offers her the emotional support she needs – but that leads to another set of choices.
Van Soest and Levine (Good Fortune, Walking The Line) were in production when Ferguson exploded over the police shooting of Michael Brown, and they’re smart enough to keep those events in the background as a running reminder of what can happen to Black youth in the St. Louis area.
It’s no wonder Daje is angry.
Apr 30, 6 pm, TIFF 3 May 1, 10:45 am, TIFF 1 May 5, 6:45 pm, Fox May 7, 3 pm, Hart House