A Tribute to John Ridley: Guerrilla

Description

Academy award-winning screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist John Ridley is an unparalleled storyteller. His first book Stray Dogs was made into the feature film U Turn directed by Oliver Stone in 1997. His film and television career includes writing Undercover Brother (2002), Red Tails (2012), and 12 Years a Slave (2013), for which he received the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. As a writer/director, his credits include Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013), television show American Crime (2013), and Showtime’s brand-new Guerrilla. Join SFFILM Festival for this program featuring a moderated conversation followed by the first episode of Guerrilla.

Babou Ceesay and Freida Pinto play an activist couple in early ’70s London, battling new immigration policies in a politically charged era in writer and director John Ridley’s intense new series for Showtime. In a chilling climate of racism and diminishing rights, Ceesay and Pinto’s characters up the ante by springing an important Black political prisoner out of prison in a bold and harrowing escape. Their action instantly places them in a secret underground resistance cell, and their nemesis is the Black Power Desk, a real life counter-intelligence group comprised of heavily trained and violent Rhodesians and South Africans designed specifically to destroy any element of Black activism. Nathaniel Martello-White is charismatic, restrained and incendiary as the leader of the radical underground group; and Ridley’s tense dialogue and pace further energize an already combustible atmosphere. As the stakes rise, Idris Elba appears as a more moderate, alternative community leader. At a time when there is a vigorous backlash against the policies of an unpopular president, Guerrilla uses its historical precedent along with powerful acting, fierce action, and compelling drama to show just how far the people can be pushed before they fight back—by any means necessary. The Festival will show part one of the six-part series. —Gustavus Kundahl

Film Details