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October 12, 2016 The Skanner Page 7 By Dwight Brown NNPA Newswire Film Critic T he New York Film Festival cel- ebrated its 54th year by trying something new. For the irst time in history, its Opening Night World Premiere was a documentary. Even more noteworthy, this non-iction ilm is by director Ava DuVernay (Sel- ma) and it focuses on America’s deep problem with its criminal justice/pe- nal system and how it afects the Black “ tion. With photos, archival footage and in- terviews, she presents something akin to a condensed post-graduate course that delivers facts, igures, history, par- allels, anecdotes, observations and con- troversial incidents that corroborate her thesis. What’s on view is an equal dose of academic study, solid journal- ism and deep emotion that will provoke anger, sadness and hopefully motiva- tion for change. DuVernay’s mission is aided by schol- ‘We are a nation that professes freedom yet have this hyper-incarceration system that is grinding into it our most vulnerable citizenry — and is overwhelming biased towards people of color’ — Senator Cory Booker community. Screening DuVernay’s powerful documentary “The 13th,” helped NYFF make a social/political and cultural statement that may reso- nate for years. Normally, analyzing racism, inequal- ity, involuntary servitude, prison sys- tems and police brutality is such a vast endeavor it would take a collection of books, a string of college courses or a PBS miniseries to begin to understand such complex subjects and their many ramiications. In one hour and 40 min- utes, DuVernay masterfully takes on that arduous task, shares some illumi- nating analysis and starts a conversa- ars (Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr.), po- litical commentators (Van Jones), un- likely sympathizers (Newt Gingrich), iconic activists (Angela Davis) and politicians. United States Senator Cory Booker said, “We are a nation that pro- fesses freedom yet have this hyper-in- carceration system that is grinding into it our most vulnerable citizenry — and is overwhelming biased towards people of color.” DuVernay connects the dots from the liberation of slaves by the 13th Amendment signed on Jan. 31, 1865, to the convict leasing that followed, then the Jim Crow system of apartheid, the PHOTO COURTESY OF NETFLIX Arts & Entertainment FILM REVIEW: Ava DuVernay Tackles Mass Incarceration and more in ‘The 13th’ Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow,” talks about the efects of mass incarceration in “The 13th.” FBI’s war against Black activism and today’s rampant incarceration of poor, Black men. Over 100 years of systemic oppression, dehumanization and what Jelani Cobb, the director of the Institute for African-American Studies, calls “a mythology of Black criminality.” Some of what she points out has been said before, and she is reinforcing it. However, lots of the information she’s bringing to light will be alarming news to most viewers i.e., did you know that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonproit organiza- tion of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives, drats and shares model state-level leg- islation that legally lets businesses take advantage of free labor by prisoners? The ilm is a revelation on so many levels. When it ends, the feeling of an- ger and sorrow is almost overwhelm- ing. There’s also a nagging feeling that you wish you had step-by-step instruc- tions on how to help break the cycle and make a change. Even, just as a coda, a list of some actionable steps would empower viewers. It would have been helpful, if the ilm had mentioned the importance of voting, community ac- tivism, joining police departments to make change from within, gun control or even decriminalizing drugs. Prob- lems, like the ones depicted in this very observant ilm, only get solved when someone takes a irst step. Angelou cont’d from pg 6 the classics ranging from Shakespeare to Langston Hughes to Edgar Allan Poe. Unfortunately, ex- posure to great litera- ture didn’t save Maya from further trauma, as she would become a single-mom at 17 ater being pressured into a sexual encounter with a boy who wanted nothing more to do with her. She subsequently supported herself and her son, Guy, by holding an array of odd jobs, including work in the sex trade industry as a stripper, prostitute and even a madam. Yet somehow, Maya would overcome her humble roots and check- ered early career to be- come an African Amer- ican icon and respected writer. That miraculous recovery is the subject of “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise,” a reverential retrospective ofering an intimate look at the life of the late poet/author/ actress/director/civil rights activist. Co-directed by Bob Her- cules and Rita Coburn Whack, the ilm features heartfelt relections by an array of luminaries, including Bill and Hil- lary Clinton, Oprah Win- frey, John Singleton, Cice- ly Tyson, Dave Chappelle and Valerie Simpson, to name a few. For example, we hear Secretary Clin- ton refer to her as “a phe- nomenal woman” while Lou Gossett, Jr. credits her with raising his polit- ical consciousness. A poignant portrait of a survivor’s unlikely path from abandoned street urchin to consummate poet laureate! Excellent HHHH Unrated Running time: 114 min. Distributor: American Masters Pictures View the trailer at TheSkanner.com Information is powerful. The power is in your hands. NEWS www.TheSkanner.com TheSkannerNews @TheSkannerNews