Nickel Boys
Two boys at brutal reformatory school build a special bond in this poetic and experimental film adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Colson Whitehead. Nominated for two Oscars, including that for best film.
A stirring follow-up to his directorial debut Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018), RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a biting, visually adventurous coming-of-age story set in Jim Crow-era Florida. Elwood is an idealistic Black high schooler whose dream of going to college falls apart when racist law officials falsely accuse and then convict him of a crime, pulling him away from the loving arms of his grandmother. At Nickel Academy, a hellish reformatory school where black boys are abused by their white guards, Elwood befriends a world-weary Turner.
Ross effortlessly switches decades – the story spans the 1960s to the 2010s. While showing memories, traumas, friendships, archival footage, and moments of defiance, Ross’ film offers a radical look at the dangers of life in Black boyhood. (adapted from: www.tiff.net)