Signature Move
If, like me, you were disappointed to miss the February theatrical release of I Am Not Your Negro, the acclaimed documentary based on the writings of James Baldwin, you have another chance. It’s screening at Union South Nov. 10 (8:30 p.m.) as part of the Hyphenated-Americans Film Festival, which features a dynamic lineup of documentaries, comedies and dramas that all relate in some way to the ideas of intersectionality and identity.
At Isthmus, we’ve been trying to be conscious of limiting the use of hyphens when it comes to human beings. But whether they’re visible or not, hyphens are implicit. They represent the fact that many people straddle multiple identities. These films help draw our attention to the fact that the balancing act isn’t easy — and they do so by delving into stories that represent many different facets of the human experience.
The series, which is sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD), kicks off on Nov. 9 with Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World. Chock full of luminaries including Taj Mahal, Iggy Pop and George Clinton, it highlights the mostly underappreciated contributions of Native Americans to rock, blues and jazz. The trailer will give you goosebumps, and spark your curiosity about who’s playing your favorite riff. That same night, stick around for To Be Takei (9:30 p.m.), a documentary about George Takei, the Star Trek actor who was raised in a World War II internment camp and broke ground as an outspoken writer and LGBTQ activist with a massive following on social media.
I Am Not Your Negro
On Nov. 10, the festival screens Signature Move (6 p.m.), a queer Muslim melodrama in which the protagonist, Zaynab, falls in love with a woman and takes up Lucha-style wrestling. Chicago magazine wrote that “it normalizes everybody and all identities.” It looks like a lot of fun.
On Nov. 11, you can live behind the scenes of an inner-city Baltimore step dance team in Step (3 p.m.) and see Salma Hayek shine as a holistic healer dealing with a bunch of clueless rich white people in the squirm-inducing Beatriz at Dinner (6 p.m.). I’m intrigued by Gook (8:30 pm), a black-and-white film about Korean American store owners in Los Angeles after the divisive verdict in the Rodney King case was announced. And night owls should stick around for a comedy special from The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj (11 p.m.)
To Be Takei
On Nov. 12, you’ll also have another chance to see Brooklyn (1 p.m.), the heartwarming period drama about an Irish immigrant (Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan) who falls for an Italian boy. Dolores (3:30 p.m.) is a documentary about Dolores Huerta, who at age 87 is one of our country’s unsung heroes, tireless agitating for social justice for farmworkers and immigrants for most of this century. The festival wraps up in modern-day Brooklyn with Menashe (6 p.m), a Yiddish-language film about an Orthodox Jewish father fighting for custody of a child.
At around 8 p.m. on Sunday, you’ll be ready for a break from the screen. But don’t forget to thank your lucky stars that WUD is around to program films that delve into what it means to be human.
