• Source: Mississippi Damned

Mississippi Damned is a 2009 American drama film written and directed by Tina Mabry and starring Tessa Thompson, D. B. Woodside, Malcolm Goodwin, Malcolm David Kelley and Michael Hyatt. The film was based on Mabry's life growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi. It was filmed in and around Ahoskie, North Carolina.




Plot


Taking place in 1986 and 1998 and based on a true story, three poor black kids in rural Mississippi reap the consequences of their family's cycle of abuse, addiction, and violence. They independently struggle to escape their circumstances and must decide whether to confront what's plagued their family for generations or succumb to the same crippling fate, forever damned in Mississippi. Writer/director Tina Mabry captures growing up in a world where possibilities and opportunities seem to die in the face of the suffocating reality of physical and sexual abuse, obsession, and a myriad of destructive compulsions.
In 1986, teenage cousins Leigh and Sammy, and Leigh's younger sister Kari, watch as their mothers and aunts struggle to maintain a roof over their heads. Leigh, a closeted lesbian, is devastated when her girlfriend announces she is marrying a man. Leigh attacks him and is arrested and kicked out of her parents' house. Sammy, a talented basketball player, is sexually abused by an older man. He accepts pay for sexual acts in order to get the money he needs to support his burgeoning basketball career. After Sammy's mother stabs her boyfriend's lover and is arrested, Sammy is taken in by his aunt. He rapes his younger cousin Kari, Leigh's sister.
By 1998, the three characters are adults. Leigh is still hung up on her old girlfriend and continues to make unwelcome visits to her. Sammy, a former professional basketball player, is out of work due to an injury. His pride and previous fame make him reluctant to take the minimum wage job he needs to support his wife and child. Kari, a talented pianist who has delayed college for years to take care of her cancer-stricken mother, is waiting to hear if she has been accepted by a musical conservatory. As she struggles to save money for school, she feels bound by family and friends, most of whom have no money to lend her or are financially dependent on her.
She eventually turns to Sammy for money. Although he gives it to her, she is disgusted and ashamed for having asked him. Sammy, feeling rejected by his wife, begins to seduce his son's underage teenage babysitter. When he is caught by his wife, she contacts the police. He commits suicide.
Kari eventually learns that her mother's cancer has returned and her father has been laid off work. She gives her parents Sammy's money and decides not to go to school. When she tells her aunt of her decision, her aunt urges her to go, warning her that if she does not leave now she is unlikely to ever go. Kari learns that she has been accepted to school in New York City. Shortly after, she discovers that her aunt has died, leaving her $25,000 in life insurance for school. Kari realizes that her aunt committed suicide by ceasing to take her diabetes medication. Kari packs up her things and leaves Mississippi, heading north toward school.




Cast


Tonea Stewart as Alice
Adam Clark as Junior Peterson
Michael Hyatt as Delores Peterson
Chasity Kershal Hammitte as Leigh Peterson
Kylee Russell as Young Kari Peterson
Tessa Thompson as Kari Peterson
Jossie Harris as Charlie Stone
Malcolm David Kelley as Young Sammy
Malcolm Goodwin as Sammy Stone
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Milena Stone
Simbi Khali as Anna Tensely
D.B. Woodside as Tyrone Tensely
Michael Beasley as James
Donna Biscoe as Gloria
Southey Blanton as Irv
Benjamin Brown as Ray




Reception






= Critical response

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When the film was screened at the NewFest film festival in New York City, Variety film critic Ronnie Scheib, praised the film, writing, "For the black men, women and children in Mississippi Damned, Tina Mabry's autobiographical saga of intertwined destinies, that southern state epitomizes a domestic hell of borderline poverty and endemic abuse. Complex family trees sometimes make for tough narrative sledding, but the thicket of obligations, traumas and betrayals that entrap the 'damned' here are well worth any momentary confusion. Mabry brilliantly captures a community as organic as it is dead-end, and the tortured legacy behind simplistic notions of ever escaping it. The NewFest audience award-winner demands strong critical support to overcome its downbeat subject matter and lack of a star draw."
The Philadelphia Inquirer film critic, Steven Rea, lauded the actors, writing, "Kelley (Walt Lloyd in Lost), Jasmin Burke and Jossie Thacker are among the busy ensemble whose exceptionally fine performances elevate what could have been a pile-it-on melodrama into something deeper and more unsettling."




= Accolades

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Wins

American Black Film Festival: Grand Jury Prize, Best Actor, Tessa Thompson; Best Narrative Feature; 2009.
Atlanta Film Festival: Special Jury Award, Narrative Breakthrough; 2009.
Black Reel Awards: Black Reel, Outstanding Independent Feature, Tina Mabry; 2009.
Chicago International Film Festival: Gold Hugo, Best Film; Gold Plaque, Best Screenplay, Tina Mabry; Best Supporting Actress, Jossie Thacker; 2009.
New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival: Audience Award, Narrative Feature; 2009.
Outfest: Grand Jury Award, Outstanding US Dramatic Feature; 2009.
Philadelphia Film Festival: Jury Award, Best American Independent Film; 2009.




= Distribution

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Despite a successful festival run, the film was unable to find distribution. The producer distributed it into a few theatres. In 2011, it premiered on Showtime, and in 2015, it was made available through Netflix via distributor ARRAY.




References






External links


Mississippi Damned at IMDb
Mississippi Damned film trailer on YouTube
Tina Mabry Archived 2017-07-09 at the Wayback Machine interview at Star-News Online

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Tessa Thompson
• Festival Film Internasional Chicago
• Harry C. Myers
• Eksistensialisme
• Daftar buku Penguin Classics
• Golden Globe Award untuk Aktor Pendukung Terbaik - Film
• Film Terbaik (Golden Globe) - Drama
• Academy Award untuk Aktris Pendukung Terbaik
• Fred Armisen
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• Mississippi Damned
• Cynthia Addai-Robinson
• Tessa Thompson
• Charles Parnell (actor)
• Tina Mabry
• D. B. Woodside
• Jasmine Burke
• Malcolm Goodwin
• Malcolm David Kelley
• Donna Biscoe