boards & panels: Soft Preperations
Synopsis
In the summer of 1988, 12-year-old Lajuan Wilder faces the upheaval of his parents' divorce and his mother's relocation to Chicago. Left in the care of his father amid this family crisis, Lajuan's world takes an unexpected turn when he befriends his father's confidant, Mr. Esposito, the local video store owner. Propelled by an offer to work at the video store for the summer, Lajuan and Mr. Esposito embark on an 8½-week journey that weaves together the delicate threads of adulthood, childhood, and the profound impact of unexpected connections through talking through his parents divorce through the language of cinema.
As their relationship unfolds, the story delves into the realm of imaginal realism, adding a layer of enchantment to their transformative journey. Amid the complexities of Lajuan's coming-of-age experience, the narrative transcends reality, inviting viewers into a world where the boundaries between past and future blur, and the essence of manhood is explored through a lens of poignant imagination.
SYNOPSIS
In "The Sweet Flypaper of Life," viewers are transported into a mesmerizing realm where love defies the constraints of time and space. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the film delves into an inter-dimensional journey where passion transcends mortal boundaries after Hines Davis falls asleep on the 6 Train and venturing past the last stop where he discovers a Newsstand owner who gifts him a Demley device that’s once triggered can cause Déjà vu in exchange for the unthinkable. Through this philosophically rich tale about love, memories, death and resurrection, audiences are immersed in the tetrahedrons of life and the profound exploration of what defines a soulmate, and the star-crossed connections that challenge notions of existence itself.
SYNOPSIS
Set in the summer of 1995, Wait Unit the Evening follows the coming-of-age story of Seneca Eads, an eccentric 13-year-old youth from the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Harlem, New York. Seneca's parents are worried that their son is emotionally disturbed after witnessing his cousin Yanni mysteriously drowned five years prior at the Eads Family Reunion.
His parents see spending the summer away from the familiarity of Harlem and around other family members may help in moving Seneca closer to the family's new reality. Outside of his parents, the only trusted friend/companion is the family dog Butterbean, purchased after Yanni’s death, with which he engages in animated one-sided conversations.
There they attend the quinquennial Eads Family Reunion on the northern coast of Martha’s Vineyards’ Oaks Bluff community where he’s left, for the next nine weeks to participate in his Grandparents Rights of Passage ceremony. Seneca grapples with a Rights of Passage ceremony led by his grandparents, challenging familial traditions and uncovering a web of deceptions that shatter his world, echoing Yanni’s advice on how he felt his individualism was stripped from him and that he never felt like himself afterwards. Wait Until the Evening is a magical realism journey, exploring the end of childhood amidst familial expectations, societal fears, and the delicate balance between innocence and growing up.
