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| OPENS 10/30 |
General Admission $11.00, Student/ Senior $9.50, Members $7.50. General admission tickets available online and at the door. Student and Senior tickets only available at the door. ALL TICKET SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUNDS. NO EXCHANGES. NO EXCEPTIONS.
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Winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent, DEAR WHITE PEOPLE is a sly, provocative satire of race relations in the age of Obama.
Writer/director Justin Simien follows a group of African American students as they navigate campus life and racial politics at a predominantly white college in a sharp and funny feature film debut that earned him a spot on Variety’s annual “10 Directors to Watch.” When Dear White People screened at MOMA’s prestigious New Directors/New Films, the New York Times’ A.O. Scott wrote, “Seeming to draw equal measures of inspiration from Whit Stillman and Spike Lee, but with his own tart, elegant sensibility very much in control, Mr. Simien evokes familiar campus stereotypes only to smash them and rearrange the pieces.”
The unexpected election of activist Samantha White (Tessa Thompson) as head of a traditionally black residence hall sets up a college campus culture war that challenges conventional notions of what it means to be black. While Sam leverages her notoriety as host of the provocative and polarizing radio show “Dear White People” to try to prevent the college from diversifying Armstrong Parker House, outgoing head-of-house Troy Fairbanks (Brandon P. Bell), son of the university’s dean (Dennis Haysbert), defies his father’s lofty expectations by applying to join the staff of Pastiche, the college’s influential humor magazine. Lionel Higgins (Tyler James Williams), an Afro-sporting sci-fi geek, is recruited by the otherwise all-white student newspaper to go undercover and write about black culture—a subject he knows little about—while the aggressively assimilated Coco Conners (Teyonah Parris) tries to use the controversy on campus to carve out a career in reality TV.
But no one at Winchester University is prepared for Pastiche’s outrageous, ill-conceived annual Halloween party, with its “unleash your inner Negro” theme throwing oil on an already smoldering fire of resentment and misunderstanding. When the party descends into riotous mayhem, everyone must choose a side.
General Admission $11.00, Student/ Senior $9.50, Members $7.50. General admission tickets available online and at the door. Student and Senior tickets only available at the door. ALL TICKET SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUNDS. NO EXCHANGES. NO EXCEPTIONS.
“It’s anger that gives Dear White People the charge lifting it from funny to great.”
– VILLAGE VOICE
“An edgy premise and memorable cast make for a potent first impression.”
– HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“This sharp, stylish comedy does pack quite a punch when it hits its stride …”
– NEW YORK POST
“If Dear White People is Simien’s School Daze, complete with academic setting and DIY scrappiness, does that mean he has a Do The Right Thing in him, too?”
– AV CLUB
“As smart and fearless a debut as I have seen from an American filmmaker in quite some time: knowing but not snarky, self-aware but not solipsistic, open to influence and confident in its own originality.”
– NEW YORK TIMES
“It’s true that satire is the perfect weapon of reason, and Justin Simien deploys it with resourcefulness, cool assurance and eagle-eyed aim.”
– WASHINGTON POST
“Here’s a comic riff on race relations in the Obama era that hits its targets far more than it misses.”
– ROLLING STONE
“The film is called Dear White People, but it might as well be called Dear Everybody. It’s hilarious, and just about everyone will wince with recognition at some point in the film.”
– VULTURE
“One of the sharpest and most audacious comedies of the year …”
– VILLAGE VOICE