2014 LAFF Review: Dreams Are Colder Than Death
What does it mean to be Black in America today? Legendary cinematographer and director Arthur Jafa tears this question down to its roots with his signature imagery and narration from a few friends and colleagues including Kara Walker, Hortense Spillers, Fred Moten, Kathleen Cleaver, Charles Burnett, Wangechi Mutu, Saidiya Hartman, Kathleen Arthur Fielder, Jr., Nicole Fleetwood, Samuel Young (most of whom also served as Producers)
This narrative documentary begins with the “dream” of Dr. Martin Luther King and ends with the one of the many marches for Trayvon Martin (the young man slain who allegedly looked suspicious for wearing a hoodie)
After the World Premiere screening at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival, Jafa spoke of his investment in the term “abnormativity”, which is the reversal of accepted aesthetic qualities of art, music, film and life by seeing things that have been deemed “bad” as good.
As Hortense Spillers proclaims at the start of this film, “We are going to lose this black culture unless we are careful”.