Best black film since 'City of God?'
by Mark Ruffin - Http://BlackUsa.com - Posted 29-Apr-06
Dear Friends,I have just seen what I believe to be the most poignant and touching black film since "City Of God." But unlike that three time Academy Award nominated classic, this film was lost in the shuffle, It's called "Dancing In September, and it came out in 2000, before "City of God." I bought this DVD for $3.99 in my local Super-Store and it turns out it is priceless. What really irks me is how this movie fell through the cracks, and why it did probably has to do with Hollywood bulls--t politics more than anything else.
I won't ruin it for you except to say I feel, without question, this is the best black movie ever made on the topic of African-Americans and television. For sweetning, on top of having a title borrowed from lyrics from an Earth, Wind & Fire song, 80% of the soundtrack traces the history of EW&F, even a track from the original group. And that's not the only very subtle nuance that makes this film important, powerful and slick. Like most black movies that Hollywood don't have the balls to make by themselves, some prominent black people paid to have it made including Danny Glover, Stan Lathan, Robert Gulliame and Chicago's own Abe Thompson and his late wife Laurna.
I laughed, I cried, I reminisced, I danced and I was shocked. As was the case when I saw "City of God," "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Crash," I want to tell the world about this film. Unfortunately, unlike those movies, you can't see it on the big screen. It was made in 2001 and I can only HOPE it's at your favorite video store. If not, maybe try the throwaway bargain bins at a big chain, which is how I found it. In the year when Hollywood gave us crap like "Atl," "Get Rich or Die Trying," and "Phat Girlz" it was refreshing to see a powerful and meaningful black movie. I just want more people to see it, and after you see it, I bet you'll want to tell people about it.