Originally, I wrote this for Vibe.com but the piece fell through the cracks of the regime change. I've written about Barry's film before. This was just posted to The Huffington Post and timed to the yesterday's DVD release of the film. Here's an excerpt:
In his assured feature debut Medicine for Melancholy, which was released on DVD today, director Barry Jenkins captures some of the potential challenges of being black and indie in the 21st century. In doing so, he has created a refreshing meditation on race, class and gentrification.
If you missed Medicine For Melancholy during its theatrical run, the film is about two African American twentysomethings -- Micah (Wyatt Cenac) and Jo' (Tracey Heggins) -- who get to know each other after a one-night stand in San Francisco, a city with the smallest proportional black population of any major American city. “I love this city. It's absolutely beautiful and it inspires creativity,” says Jenkins, who was able to move there thanks only to the generosity of his best friend's parents, with whom he's been living while he writes and makes films. “But you can go for hours without seeing another Black person.”
Read and comment on the full article on the Huffington Post here.
