"Something really heavy in the world just happened… What do we want to say about?" Preach! This film deserves a shout! An official trailer is available for an indie documentary called Don't Be Nice, which is also the "credo" that the upstart Bowery Slam Poetry Team operates by. The doc film is a profile of the Bowery Slam Poetry Team (find them on Facebook), who find their voice as they compete for the National Championship during the summer of 2016. This premiered at the Hot Docs Festival last year, in theaters starting next month. "An emotional and inspiring film that gives insightful commentary on race, gender, identity and sexual politics in America today, Don't Be Nice is both an exciting competition film and a deep dive into the wildly-popular Slam Poetry subculture, that proves once and for all that winning hearts and minds is the ultimate prize." This will make a great double feature with Step or Bodied. I can dig it, can you?
Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Max Powers' doc Don't Be Nice, direct from YouTube:
Don't Be Nice chronicles the upstart Bowery Slam Poetry Team, made up of five African-American, Afro-Hispanic and queer poets in their 20s, preparing for the national championships. Coach Lauren Whitehead pushes them past personal boundaries to write from a painfully honest place with the credo "Don't Be Nice." She explains that to "be nice" is to stay on the surface of things, is to perpetuate the status quo, and is, for black people, to be what White culture demands. Her team of poets breaks down, breaks through, and ultimately writes their masterpiece—a celebration of black joy. Timely and difficult, their spoken word slays—but will their soul-searching pieces about police violence and the whitewashing of Black culture be able to compete against choreographed crowd-pleasers for the national title? Will opting to make a statement instead of a show spell their defeat? Don't Be Nice is directed by up-and-coming editor / filmmaker Max Powers, making his feature directorial debut after years of work as an editor. The doc film will open in select US theaters starting September 20th this fall. For more visit the official website.
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