Buy tickets for MLK Jr. Way – Saturday September 17 @ 6:30PM Opera Plaza Cinemas
Dir. Eliseo Cabrera, Kara Cohen, & Erik Stinson USA-2011-80 min.
The story is about two young Mexican American guys who lose their jobs (partly from laziness partly from the recession), and their home (due to the rocky climate in West Oakland). They decide to pursue a casually mentioned plan suggested by their friend to find girlfriends and subsequently live with them, in order to find a free place to live.
It is a plot based on dating but there are no tones of romance or real explorations of relationships. There are however subtle visual and verbal discussions of race, gender, class, subcultures, gentrification, city planning, and the contemporary bohemian lifestyle.
Mlk Jr. Way is a narrative, but it is not scripted. It is not a documentary because there is a fictional plot in play, but there are certainly some cinéma vérité qualities to the film. All of the actors, directors, musicians, marketers and designers are part of this tight knit existing community. All the parties are real, and many of the conversations are real and the style reflects this. We used fiction as a tool to package the truth in an entertaining and structured manner, shedding the burden of self-importance.
The style comes from a blatant disinterest in holding the craft of perfect high definition, crisp sound, stable camera, and romantic compositions on a pedestal at the expense of content, innovation, perspective (pov) and authenticity.
Check out our trailer and follow us on twitter. Thanks ya’ll for adding us to the festival. http://twitter.com/#!/MlkJrWay