TRAILERS

Acclaimed Film 'The African Desperate' Follows a New MFA Graduate

by Alex Billington
August 31, 2022
Source: YouTube

"I'm a believer in art." Mubi has unveiled an official trailer for an intriguing art-house indie film titled The African Desperate, which will be opening later this month. It premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year, and also played at New Directors/New Films in NYC. This electrifying film tracks one very long day for Palace Bryant, a newly minted MFA grad whose final 24 hours in art school become a real trip. She is not going to the graduation party! She needs to get home, back to Chicago from upstate NY. But that means surviving a hazy, hilarious, and hallucinatory night-long odyssey, stumbling from academic critiques to backseat hookups. With a banging soundtrack and cinematography that references street photography, giddy gonzo cinema and 1990s high-school romcoms, The African Desperate ultimately chronicles the need for release and emancipation from mental slavery. Starring Diamond Stingily, Erin Leland, and Ruby McCollister. This definitely looks like it is straight out of the art scene, criticizing it in just the right way.

Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Martine Syms' The African Desperate, direct from YouTube:

The first 24 hours as an MFA. Palace (Diamond Stingily) is a tall black Aquarius and a sculptor on the up. She was in the Venice Biennale, among other shows, which pisses people off; they think her success is not because of her art. She is exhausted, frustrated, and wants to go home to see her family. She plans a silent protest to not attend the graduation party, even though she has promised to DJ. In her first feature film, artist Martine Syms applies her celebrated conceptual grit, humor, and fresh social commentary to the cinematic form, where the natural beauty of upstate New York abuts the Day-Glo druggy haze of an art party. The African Desperate is directed by artist / filmmaker Martine Syms, now making her feature directorial debut with this project. The screenplay is by Rocket Caleshu and Martine Syms. This originally premiered at the 2022 Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year. Mubi will open The African Desperate in select US theaters starting September 16th, 2022, with a streaming debut later this year. Who's curious?

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