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A Day in Black and White (film)

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A Day in Black and White
Directed byDesmond Hall
Written byDesmond Hall
Produced by
Starring
Music byLoris Holland
Release date
  • March 14, 1999 (1999-03-14)[1]
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

A Day in Black and White is a 1999 American comedy film written and directed by Desmond Hall.

Synopsis

A young black writer (Harold Perrineau), asked to write and present a speech on race relations, reaches out to a white friend (Anthony DeSando) for his input. As the two discuss the speech and the racial issues being addressed within it, their differences in views transform a friendly conversation into a heated debate. The pair continue their argument on and off throughout the day, as they discuss a variety of racially-charged topics, from the OJ Simpson trial to disco and interracial dating, with each other and a number of other characters.

Cast

Release

A Day in Black and White premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 14, 1999.[2][3] The film was purchased by HBO[4] and scheduled for a February 2001 broadcast premiere.[5]

Reception

A Day in Black and White received generally mixed to positive reviews. Jerry Renshaw of The Austin Chronicle wrote in his review that the film "manages to find fresh approaches to a very serious subject", calling it "a rare film that can take such an overheated subject and treat it in a witty, entertaining way, thought-provoking without being inflammatory".[6] Godfrey Cheshire of Variety wrote A Day in Black and White was "(s)incere, insightful and sometimes flat-out hilarious", but stated "the pic suffers only from being a string of clever, topical dialogues rather than a fully fleshed narrative".[1] Elvis Mitchell wrote in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the film "erred a bit on the side of didacticism, not trusting the acuity of the humor to get its points across"", but still referred to the film as "good stuff".[7]

The film was a finalist for the Gordon Parks Award for Desmond Hall's direction in 1999.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "A Day in Black and White - Variety". 5 April 1999. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  2. ^ "Just a couple of the "small" films set to premiere at SXSW". 1999-03-10. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  3. ^ "A Day in Black and White- Variety". 1999-04-05. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  4. ^ "How to win a film deal, online - Variety". 2001-04-06. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  5. ^ "HBO MOVIE "A DAY IN BLACK AND WHITE" - Desmond Hall Portfolio". Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  6. ^ "Further Reflections - Screens - The Austin Chronicle". 1999-03-26. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  7. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (1999-03-28). "Offbeat films rule at South by Southwest". The Atlanta Constitution. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  8. ^ "Noms out for Parks Awards". 1999-09-10. Retrieved 2020-04-18.