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Emergency

Opens on January 29

Director: Carey Williams Run Time: 90 min.

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

Straight-A college student Kunle and his laid-back best friend Sean are about to have the most epic night of their lives. Determined to be the first Black students to complete their school’s frat party legendary tour, the friends strap in for their ultimate assignment, Solo cups in hand. But a quick pit stop at home alters their plans when they find a white girl passed out on the living room floor. Faced with the risks of calling the police under life-threatening optics, Kunle, Sean, and their Latino roommate Carlos must find a way to de-escalate the situation before it’s too late.

Two-time Sundance alum Carey Williams (R#J, 2021) makes his U.S. Dramatic Competition debut with Emergency, the darkly comedic and wildly hard-hitting feature version of his short by the same name (a Special Jury Award winner in 2018). Bringing KD Dávila’s sharp and layered writing to life through an incredibly talented breakout cast, Williams hazes us with a timely and biting satire in which racial dynamics unmask a world so absurd that it could only be real.

Following the film screening please stay for a virtual conversation that was recorded on January 24 with local university students and faculty to discuss the film and college life. Panelists include:

Malik McFarlane –  Malik is a senior Chemistry major with a concentration in Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery at Wake Forest University. He is an RA, a tutor, and helped create the STEM Inclusion Advisory Board. In his spare time, he likes to play, listen to, and make music and is in the process of releasing his fifth project in his four years of college.
Stewart Jeffers – Stewart is a second year film student at University of North Carolina School of the Arts hoping to get in the cinematography program. Film is a big part of his life as he works the box office at a/perture cinema and crews on UNCSA film productions!
The panel is moderated by:
Dr. Donovan Livingston – Donovan is an award-winning educator, spoken word poet, and public speaker. In 2016, his Harvard Graduate School of Education convocation address “Lift Off” went viral, reaching over thirteen million views and prompting Hillary Clinton to praise, “It’s young graduates like [Livingston] who make it clear that America’s best days are still ahead.” His convocation address was published as a book in 2017. He began his career in education with the College Advising Corps at UNC and later, NYU. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he went on to earn master’s degrees from Columbia University and Harvard University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro where he studied the impact of Hip-Hop and spoken word poetry in student experiences in higher education.  Livingston currently serves Wake Forest University as the Assistant Dean of the Office of University Collaborations.

Watch the recorded panel here

 

a/perture appreciates the following local sponsors and supporters of a/perture | Sundance Satellite Screen:

Flow Acura

Blanco Tackabery, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law

Raffaldini Vineyards

The Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County

Rabbit Hole Distillery

The Trophy Room

Hotel Indigo

Gas Hill @ The Ramkat

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