Paradise
From the Archives
•
8m 6s
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, two friends on a FaceTime call experience a dispute with a neighbor. Entirely presented as a video screen capture, Tanner Jarman’s film becomes an inadvertent tour through the racist viral videos of the day as we follow a young black man walking down the street. Though he’s nowhere near her (or anyone else for that matter), Mike gets scolded by a white woman for not wearing a mask while walking in front of her house. When he turns around to discuss, the woman freaks out and calls the cops. As Winston watches through his computer, increasingly disturbed, he urges Mike to leave before things escalate. On the flip side, at a mini-mart later, an overcompensating white man offers Mike special treatment while flashing him the black power fist. Mike and Winston discuss the whiplash interactions as they occur, and the result is a complex exploration of black life delivered with all the seriousness the subject deserves but also a sharp sense of exasperated humor.
Writer & Director: Tanner Jarman. Cast: Dede Ogbueze, Tanner Jarman, Cynthia Youngblood, Malcolm Nicholas, Marcus Nobreus, Khorri Ellis. Director of Photography: Tehillah DeCastro. Production Designer: Jade Spiers. Producer: Tanner Jarman. Co-Producer: Dede Obgueze. Title Animator: Ayla Mortada. Colorist: Oliver Eid.
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