Film: "Blindspotting"
This Oakland-set buddy dramedy starring Daveed Diggs uses hip-hop-style dialogue to amplify its message about race and gentrification.
Daveed Diggs displayed his hip-hop prowess most notably in the Broadway musical Hamilton, but with this hyper-relevant buddy dramedy he and co-writer/co-star Rafael Casal use heightened, rap-style dialogue to amplify their characters’ concerns about gentrification, the prison system and the police.
Collin (Diggs) must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. His troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles (Casal), seems the most likely to jeopardize his chances—until Collin witnesses a police shooting, putting him in an impossible position. The men’s friendship is tested as they grapple with identity and their changed realities in the rapidly-gentrifying neighborhood they grew up in.
D: Carlos López Estrada, US, 2018, 1h35m
Programmed in conjunction with Dartmouth’s Black Theatre Summit
