Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw as Ruth, a reluctant superhero, in Fast Color
It’s the first Tuesday of the month, which means it’s time for Indie Memphis’ Shoot and Splice series of filmmakers speaking on filmmaking. This week, it’s Southern Music Documentaries with Negro Terror director and University of Mississippi’s Southern Documentary Project head John Rash and documentarians Mary Stanton Knight and Rex Jones. Photojournalist Andrea Morales will be the moderator for the discussion. The free event starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Crosstown Arts.
On Wednesday, a different kind of superhero film at Studio on the Square. Fast Color is director Julia Hart’s acclaimed film about Ruth, a woman on the run played by Doctor Who veteran Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw, who is trying to reunite with her long-lost daughter and mother. The three women have mysterious superpowers that might just save the world from environmental disaster, but they need the help of a friendly sheriff (David Strathairn) to evade a scientist (Christopher Denham) who wants to learn their secrets. You can get your tickets here.
Music Doc Talk, Superpowered Black Girls, and Donna Summer This Week At The Cinema
On Thursday, you can get ready for the end of the week with the latest installment of the Crosstown Arts film series. Saturday Night Fever may be the definitive document of the disco era, but Thank God It’s Friday is a close second. Released six months after John Travolta sashayed across the screen, the film was co-produced by disco powerhouse Casablanca Records and Motown. It uses the American Graffiti frame of one eventful night in the lives of a group of loosely connected young people, except instead of cruising in small town California they’re flocking to a Los Angeles disco called The Zoo. The real point is the soundtrack, which was a triple album (!) produced by Giorgio Moroder and featuring the 1977 Academy Award Winner for Best Song, “Last Dance,” performed by Donna Summer. The film starts at 7:30 at Crosstown Theater.
Music Doc Talk, Superpowered Black Girls, and Donna Summer This Week At The Cinema (2)