‘Brother to Brother’ and ‘Girl Trouble’ screening at SFIFF

San Francisco Bay View
Wed. April 21, 2004

By Wanda Sabir

What is the difference between being at risk and in risk? Is intellectual acuity ever cause for increased life insurance?

The two films, “Brother to Brother” and “Girl Trouble,” both screening at the 47th annual San Francisco International Film Festival April 15-29, are examples of such phenomena, whether that is a young gay Black artist finding courage and strength in Harlem Renaissance heroes and heroines who dared society as they flaunted and recast norms or through the prism of the San Francisco juvenile justice system, where there are no institutional programs in place to address the needs of girls, a population that is steadily increasing. They are 28 percent of the detention population but get just 2 percent of the services.

In “Brother to Brother,” directed by Rodney Evans, the line between the surreal, past and present blur when Perry (Anthony Mackie) meets Bruce Nugent, poet and close friend of the late Langston Hughes. The two meet when Perry’s friend Marcus performs a new poem for him as the elder man walks by. After the younger man finishes, Bruce recites “Smoke, Lilies and Jade,” which impresses the two men, then walks away. Perry looks the poem up and then tries to find the author. Their worlds collide once again and the two become friends.

It’s almost as if Bruce is a ghost, the way his world envelops Perry’s when he tells stories about the days when Harlem was en vogue. However, it is through Bruce’s acceptance of his past and present, for better or worse - he’s homeless - that helps his young friend come to terms with his life.

Beautifully shot, with a superb cast and great score, integrated with poetry set to music, “Brother to Brother” (90 minutes) is a period piece that refuses to be placed in a particular decade, period or even century, because the relationship between brothers is timeless. It screens April 24 at 6:45 p.m. and April 25 at 9:15 p.m. at the AMC Kabuki, San Francisco. Call (925) 866-9559 for tickets, which range from $12 regular admission to $9.50 for members. For weekday matinees Monday through Friday, ticket are $7.50 up to 5 p.m.

“Girl Trouble,” though not fictional, also has a happy ending, in no part due to the work of Lateefah Simon, 24, director of the Center for Young Women’s Development, the first youth-run organization for girls in trouble, located in San Francisco. Visit www.girltrouble.org.

Recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award for her work with young women at CYWD, Simon, who is herself a single parent, says that her population is “in risk.” The filmmakers, Lidia Szajko and Lexi Leban, follow three girls, Sheila, 17, Stephanie, 16, and Shangra, 16, for three years, as one gives birth, one goes to jail and still another graduates from a treatment program. All the girls have issues, many dealing with physical abuse at home, substance abuse, homelessness and related stress that keeps them in the system. However, Lateefah doesn’t give up on them, even when she has to fire more than one girl when she breaks employee rules.

“Girl Trouble” (72 minutes) is an important film because it addresses the increasing population of girls and women in the prison system and how society is failing them. It screens at the Kabuki Saturday, April 24, at 7 p.m., Monday, April 26, at 1 p.m., and Tuesday, April 27, at 4:15 p.m.

The San Francisco International Film Festival continues through April 29. Visit www.sffs.org.

to top || back to press index >>>