USA,
1999, 96 min
Shown in 2000
CREDITS
- dir
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Jim McKay
- prod
-
Paul Mezey, Jim McKay, Diana Williams
- scr
-
Jim McKay
- cam
-
Jim Denault
- editor
-
Alex Hall
- cast
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Melissa Martinez, Anna Simpson, Kerry Washington, The Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band
- source
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C-Hundred Film Corp., 241 Eldridge St. #3-f, New York, NY 10002. FAX: 212-254-7097
-
COMMENTS
Jim McKay in person.
OTHER
As proven by his debut feature Girls Town (1996), Jim McKay has a surprisingly keen understanding of the adolescent female experience. With Our Song, he continues to explore this infrequently charted territory as he ventures into the inner-city world of Crown Heights, Brooklyn and the lives of three teens from different ethnic backgrounds (all first-time film actresses). In the final weeks of summer, close friends Lanisha, Maria and Joycelyn are at crucial turning points in their lives, forced to make choices that will forever impact both their friendship and their futures. Struggling against the barriers which hold them back—difficult home environments, school bureaucracy, socioeconomic status—their emotional vulnerability is belied by their tough exteriors. But the adversity they face is countered by the potent influx of positive energy generated by the marching band they belong to and rehearse with each day. Played by the real-life Jackie Robinson Steppers, the band’s kinetic high-stepping, drum-beating, horn-blowing rhythms are not only a source of community, but are a dynamic embodiment of the hopeful spirit within each of these young women. Our Song’s cinema verité style illuminates the subtleties of their experience and the universality of their stories—without judgment or melodrama.
—Joanne Parsont
FACTOID #177
In 2000 animator Faith Hubley was the recipient of the Persistence of Vision Award. One year later, her daughter Emily appeared at the Festival with her bandmates, Yo La Tengo, to perform a score accompanying the silent underwater films of Jean Painlevé.
