Special Screening: Black Panther with Ryan Coogler

Description

Join SFFILM for an in-depth onstage conversation with local film hero Ryan Coogler, followed by his blockbuster phenomenon Black Panther.

Black Panther is Coogler’s take on a modern African hero and a utopian vision of what an uncolonized Africa might look like. The film explores the conflict between two powerful men, one African and one African American, who are mirror images of each other—each grappling with his own history, home, and very identity. When Prince T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes king of the hidden, technologically advanced kingdom Wakanda, he is forced to defend his throne against rogue mercenary Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Wakanda is also alive with strong, intelligent women—from Wakanda’s elite all-female security force, led by Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira, to T’Challa’s own tech-savvy sister (Letitia Wright) and mother (Angela Bassett)—who are portrayed as equals to the men they protect and advise.

“As a celebration of pan-Africanism and a critique of Africa’s colonial history, Black Panther pays homage to forebearers as diverse as Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. Drawing on elements from African history and tribal culture, as well as contemporary and forward-looking flourishes, director Ryan Coogler, working with a script he co-wrote with Joe Robert Cole, delivers a film that pulses with color, vibrancy and layered textural beauty. It is bracingly, joyfully groundbreaking.”
—Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

Film Details