Chi-Raq is the latest Spike Lee joint. The film was met with controversy from the title to the content. Based on Aristophanes’s Lysistrata, the film explores gang violence in the south side of Chicago. Take a look at the trailer and let us know what you think of it.

Synopsis:

Chi-Raq is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the on-going violence in Chicago’s Southside creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world.

Cast:

• Teyonah Parris – Lysistrata
• Nick Cannon – Chi-raq
• John Cusack – Fr. Mike Corridan
• Samuel L. Jackson – Dolmedes
• Wesley Snipes – Cyclops
• Angela Bassett – Miss Helen
• Jennifer Hudson – Irene
• Harry Lennix – Commissioner Blades
• La La Anthony – Hecuba

Crew:

• Director/Producer/Writer – Spike Lee
• Writer – Kevin Willmott
• Cinematographer – Matthew Libatique

Chi-Raq is scheduled for a limited release in theaters on December 4, 2015. Tickets are available here. Afterward it will be available on Amazon Instant Video.

The post First ‘Chi-Raq’ Trailer appeared first on Films of Color.

In honor of highlighting Gina Prince-Bythewood on Instagram, it’s time to throw it back to the turn of the millennium. Love & Basketball is timeless, and not just because Sanaa Lathan looks the same age now as she did back then. Love & Basketball shows how paths that seem parallel can intersect. Monica and Quincy find romance through their mutual love for basketball.

Synopsis:

In 1981 in L.A., Monica moves in next door to Quincy. They’re 11, and both want to play in the NBA, just like Quincy’s dad. Their love-hate relationship lasts into high school, with Monica’s edge and Quincy’s top-dog attitude separating them, except when Quincy’s parents argue and he climbs through Monica’s window to sleep on the floor. As high school ends, they come together as a couple, but within a year, with both of them playing ball at USC, Quincy’s relationship with his father takes an ugly turn, and it leads to a break up with Monica. Some years later, their pro careers at a crossroads, they meet again. It’s time for a final game of one-on-one with high stakes.

Cast:

Sanaa Lathan – Monica Wright

Omar Epps – Quincy McCall

Alfre Woodard – Camille Wright

Dennis Haysbert – Zeke McCall, Quincy’s father

Debbi Morgan – Mona McCall, Quincy’s mother

Harry Lennix – Nathan Wright

Love & Basketball is available here.

The post Throwback Thursday: Love & Basketball appeared first on Films of Color.