Hull Independent Cinema: IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Hull Independent Cinema presents: IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK
Barry Jenkins | 2018 | USA | Cert 15 | 119 mins

Synopsis
Set in early-1970s Harlem, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is a timeless and moving love story of both a couple’s unbreakable bond and the African-American family’s empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year-old Tish Rivers. A daughter and wife-to-be, Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny. Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.

Through the unique intimacy and power of cinema only Barry Jenkins (MOONLIGHT) can create, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK honours the James Baldwin novel’s prescient words and imagery, charting the emotional currents navigated in an unforgiving and racially biased world as the filmmaker poetically crosses time frames to show how love and humanity endure.

Featuring KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King

Awards and Reviews
Winner – Best Film, American Film Institute Awards
Nominee – Best Picture Drama, Best Director, 2019 Golden Globes
Nominee – Best Feature, Best Director – Film Independent Spirit Awards
Toronto Intl Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, New York Film Festival Official Selections

“Barry Jenkins channels all of James Baldwin’s lyricism and anger into a story of love and injustice that burns with a gentle flame, occasionally blazing into a white heat.” – Time Out

” You’ve never seen romantic love depicted on screen with such lyrical and gorgeous intensity, or systemic injustice brought to such vivid and enraging life. Film classes will be taught about Jenkins’ use of colour” – NPR

Certificate
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is rated 15. Visit the BBFC website for full details (may include plot spoilers).