Another AFI Wrap: I Carry You With Me, One Night in Miami, etc.

by Christopher James

The gay romantic drama "I Carry You With Me"

AFI Fest has always been one of my favorite times of the year. As an LA-based critic, it’s my chance to catch up on all the big movies that premiered at Venice, TIFF, NYFF and Telluride. Some of my personal favorite memories from attending the festival the last five years include watching Roma at the legendary Egyptian Theater and attending an afterparty for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool with Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in attendance. With the pandemic, a lot of the pomp and circumstance has been taken out of the film festival. That absence has been replaced by greater accessibility to some of the great films chosen for the festival. No more rushing across Hollywood Boulevard to get in line for a third film in a day. All the bingeing can be done from the comfort of my couch. Many film festivals have found a positive way to adapt to the pandemic.

Chris’ 'Jury-of-One' Top Five AFI Fest 2020 Films...

• I Carry You With Me (dir: Heidi Ewing): This sprawling gay romance from Mexico is big in so many ways. While it centers on Iván (Armando Espitia) and Gerardo’s (Christian Vázquez) love, Ewing and Alan Page Arriaga’s script has grander ambitions. The film weaves between the men’s childhood, their 90s courtship and immigration drama in present day New York City. It’s a grand, sympathetic, epic romance that makes one’s heart soar and eyes weep. (Sony Pictures Classics to release on 1/8/2021)

• One Night in Miami (dir: Regina King): Believe the hype. Regina King’s directorial effort purposefully doesn’t open up Kemp Powers’ stage play. Instead, she finds interesting ways to dramatize an evening spent in a Miami motel room between Malcolm X (Kinsley Ben-Adir), Cassius Clay (Eli Goree), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge). It all culminates in one of the strongest endings of the year. Really excited to see this become a big Oscar contender. (Amazon to release in select theaters on 12/25/2020 and Prime Video on 1/15/2021)

• Wolfwalkers (dir: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart): The AFI Audience Award got it right by rewarding this animated gem. The duo behind Oscar nominees The Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells hit another home run with Wolfwalkers. When a young girl (Honor Kneafsey) ventures out into the woods, she befriends a pack of humans that transform into wolves at night. Her allegiances to her wolf-hunting Father (Sean Bean) are tested as she spends more time in the forest learning of her new friend’s magic. The animation is gorgeous and the story is heartwarming. (Select Theaters on 11/13/2020 and on Apple TV+ on 12/11/2020)

• Industry (dir: Lena Dunham): HBO’s latest dramedy features a unique and authentic look at high-powered entry level jobs. The show takes place in the world of high finance, as a group of highly educated twenty-two year olds begin their professional careers at the bottom. Our entry point is Harper Stern (Myhala Herrold), the lone American in the British office who may be hiding things from her resume. Not all of the characters jump off the page, but creators Mickey Down and Konrad Kay have created an incredibly vivid portrait of one’s first job. (Premiers on HBO on 11/9/2020)

• Nine Days (dir: Edson Oda): For having such a similar concept to The Good Place, Edson Oda crafts a beautiful and singular vision of the afterlife. Winston Duke expertly slips into the character of Will, an interviewer in the afterlife determining who gets to be reborn. Confidently atmospheric, Oda and cinematographer Wyatt Garfield successfully make their own version of Defending Your Life by way of Terrence Malick. (Sony Pictures Classics to release on 1/22/2021)

Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X in "One Night in Miami"

Best Director: Heidi Ewing (I Carry You with Me)

Best Actor: Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami)

Best Actress: Nina Hoss (My Little Sister)

Best Supporting Actor: Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)

Best Supporting Actress: Michelle Rodríguez (I Carry You With Me)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami)

Best Original Screenplay: Heidi Ewing, Alan Page Arriaga (I Carry You With Me)

Best Documentary: 76 Days

Best Cinematography: Wyatt Garfield (Nine Days)

Best Ensemble Cast: One Night in Miami

Just Another Girl on the IRT

One of the other fun sections of the festival was AFI’s Cinema Legacy screenings. This year, AFI Fest highlighted new “classics” from black filmmakers. Curated by Rachquel Gates, the four films chosen represented black cinema in the 90s across different genres. These films were made available for free and did a great job of representing the wide breadth of work black filmmakers were able to make throughout the 90s. The selected films were: Dead Presidents (dir: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes), Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (dir: Leslie Harris), The Watermelon Woman (dir: Cheryl Dunye) and Posse (dir: Mario Van Peebles). Of the four films, I watched all except Posse.

The Watermelon Woman was a second watch and it proved to be just as miraculous and fun on rewatch. Dunye directs and stars as Cheryl, a video store clerk who becomes obsessed with learning more about a silent film actress who was frequently cast in Mammy roles. In the midst of her research, Cheryl falls for a frequent customer, Diana (Guinevere Turner). Dunye expertly constructs a sweet, interracial, lesbian rom-com with this exploration of film history. Valerie Walker also steals every scene as Tamara, Cheryl’s partner in crime and wingwoman. All in all, The Watermelon Woman was my favorite watch of the festival, even though I had already seen it before.

In terms of discoveries, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. was an absolute delight that managed to consistently surprise. Ariyan A. Johnson commands the screen as Chantal, an incredibly bright teenager living in a working class New York City neighborhood. She dreams of medical school and being able to lift her family out of financial duress. Johnson’s natural charm and writer/director Leslie Harris’ vision combines to give us almost a Clueless-esque high school story. That said, the film takes a tonal shift that feels like a sharp turn, but manages to stick the landing thanks to Harris’ confident handling of the material.

The Hughes Brothers’ Dead Presidents also goes through many tonal shifts with a lot less grace. The film chronicles a young man in the Bronx (Larenz Tate) who gets shipped off to Vietnam. Upon returning, he organizes a heist in order to take care of his family. There’s a lot of great insight into the experience of black veterans. However, these interesting dimensions get lost with the machinations of the always changing plot. 

Have you ever attended AFI Fest? Which movies are you most excited to see this year from their lineup?

Comments

[Glenn Dunks]

I remember liking JUST ANOTHER GIRL ON THE IRT many years ago when I watched it late night on tele. Such a shame neither director nor star went on to much more. I actually watched DEAD PRESIDENTS just a few weeks back (or was it months? it was while in lockdown nonetheless) and didn't find it successful, but that may also have had to do with having expected something coimpletely different. I remembered its VHS artwork so much that when it took two full acts to get to a damn heist I had probably lost interest.

[Seeking Amy]

I saw ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI through Middleburgh and I was pretty underwhelmed. It felt pretty middlebrow and bloodless throughout, only briefly coming alive at the end. Surface level and not particularly illuminating about any of the figures nor of the current racial injustices in America. Hoping Regina Hall's next directorial effort is something invigorating.

[Anthony]

"Just Another Girl on the I.R.T." was the only film in AFI's Cinema Legacy I had never seen. It had been hard to try and track down so I was thrilled for the opportunity to finally see it. The film was really well done and thoughtful. Leslie Harris managed to do so much with so little and cannot believe this gifted filmmaker never got another shot to make a feature film.

[Evan]

I saw several of AFI Fest screenings this year and had caught several more at other online film festivals. My favorite film in their lineup was Tragic Jungle with I Carry You With me in second place. Another Mexican film, New Order, is a very un-fun film to watch, but it may be the film I've thought about the most. Viva Mexico, I guess?!

There Is No Evil is an Iranian anthology film with one (/maybe two) realllly strong segments that I keep returning to in my head. I went from bored to engrossed in about 1.2 seconds.

Farewell Amor is a great little indie film.

I'll echo your praise for Nina Hoss and would put Riz Ahmed for Best Actor. One Night in Miami has a great ensemble all around, but like Seeking Amy above, I felt the film was solid but formulaic. Not exactly sure where the "Regina King for Best Director" campaign came from, but that seems like a stretch.

I liked both Collective and 76 Days as docs, but would give the edge to the Romanians.

[Dan Humphrey]

I need to see "Summer of 85" and "I Carry You With Me," like, yesterday.

[Greg F.]

While I know it's an innocent mistake, people must stop making the Regina King/Hall mix up on this site. I highly doubt you'd make this same error with, say, Jennifer Lawrence and Jennifer Aniston or Olivia Coleman and Olivia Wilde. These are two Black actresses who happen to be named Regina and I've seen this mistake a few times in the comments. Especially when making the case that her film doesn't illuminate current racial injustices in America - at least get her name correct when making that argument! I don't mean to be combative, but I have to call out its offensiveness.

Regina King (and Hall for that matter) is a screen goddess and I'm so excited to see what she does as director on ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI. Whether or not she's Oscar-worthy for her debut, this still bodes well for her future directing career. Yay!