I was once asked Why do you write? I wanted to explain how I became this woman with razor blades between her teeth- Sonia Sanchez
Portrait of poet Sanchez who was one of the founders of the Black Arts movement and was a major influence on Hip Hop.
I like the woman, I like her poetry. But there is something about the film that didn't work for me. I suspect that its simply that the balance between material on Sanchez's life and that of her words is out of whack. The film feels like a giant free form expression/performance of her words where these biographical and contextual bits have been dropped in making it feel like the director didn't know which way to go.- Do I run all of the poetry together with Sonia going through her life or do I try to give you a bio of her? The result is the film doesn't feel like either and is just okay instead of something that soars or sings.
While I'm mixed on the film as a whole, I find it to be a kick ass introduction to the woman and her poetry and influence. If you couple it with HUSTLERS CONVENTION which also played DOC NYC you'd have a killer examination at the roots of Hip Hop
The film plays tomorrow the 18th and Thursday the 19th at DOC NYC. For more information and tickets go here
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