Film Screening: That Kid

THAT KID tells the story of a young, gifted Black boy from Nyack Plaza named James. All of his elders do their darndest to help him prepare for life in a system that is predicated on his exploitation rather than designed for his success.

It seems like in our culture a person or community’s monetary wealth is frequently mistaken for their real value as human beings.

Many people probably think about the residents of Nyack Plaza in terms of what they don’t have. Ashley Dawson’s fictional debut THAT KID shows us something else, on both sides of the camera. It is a community creation embodying the kind of value which cannot be bought with money (or entirely displaced through eminent domain, either!!!).

In the cinema verité tradition of BATTLE OF ALGIERS, Ashley Dawson manages to show what life is like with fictional storytelling in a real environment. THAT KID will premier at the LA Underground Railroad Film Festival on April 17, and at the Nyack Center with Rivertown on April 23.

After the film, stay for a discussion with filmmakers Ashley Dawson and Brooklyn Demme.

In 2020 Ashley Dawson co-founded Truth 2 Power to bring people together at the intersection of education, community, and film, some of which has documented the under-valued African American history of Nyack. She has also conducted essential journalistic coverage of the deaths of Tina Davis and Sean Harris, in addition to the ongoing issue of police brutality in Rockland County, more broadly. You may have learned from Ashley about film in the African diaspora from the credit bearing course Truth 2 Power offered entitled Honoring African Cultural Continuity in Film. 

Writer, Director, Exeutive Producer: Ashley Dawson
Producer, Cinematographer, Editor: Brooklyn Demme
Co-Producer: Norris Spotted War Turtle Branham

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